JUSTICE

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of individuals in bail accommodation funded from the public purse have (a) failed to comply with the conditions of their bail and (b) re-offended whilst subject to bail in the last year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: Accommodation for some defendants on bail is provided by the Bail Accommodation and Support Service (BASS); others are accommodated in approved premises.
	In 2011-12, 411 defendants resident in a BASS property failed to comply with the conditions of their bail. This represents 23% of the total number of defendants whose period of support by BASS came to an end during 2011-12. To establish whether defendants accommodated by BASS have re-offended would require a detailed search of court records, which would incur disproportionate cost.
	For approved premises, it is not possible to disaggregate the bail and licence elements without incurring disproportionate cost. Statistics for reconvictions of those held on bail in approved premises are not collected centrally and to obtain them would involve disproportionate cost.

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on accommodation for (a) defendants on bail and (b) prisoners released on home detention curfew in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: Accommodation for some defendants on bail and prisoners released under home detention curfew (HDC) is provided by the Bail Accommodation and Support Service (BASS) and in approved premises. It is not possible to provide the requested information without incurring disproportionate cost.

Bail

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what offence each suspect released on bail who went on to commit (a) murder and (b) indictable offences was bailed in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide statistics on the offence for which each suspect was bailed, and who went on to commit (a) murder and (b) an indictable offence. This is because the information held on the Police National Computer (PNC) does not allow us to identify the offence for which the suspect was released on bail.

Bail

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what offences those suspects who reoffended while on bail committed when they reoffended in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The table shows the number and types of offences committed by reoffenders while on bail for the 12-month period ending March 2012.
	
		
			 Type and number of offences committed by reoffenders while on bail (1)  Q2 2011-Q1 2012 
			 Offences committed by reoffenders while on bail Number of offences 
			 Burglary 4,865 
			 Criminal damage 999 
			 Drug offences 6,272 
			 Fraud and forgery 978 
			 Indictable motoring offences 276 
			 Other indictable offences 4,287 
			 Robbery 1,593 
			 Sexual offences 300 
			 Summary motoring offences 2,622 
			 Summary offences excluding motoring 17,021 
			 Theft and handling stolen goods 20,072 
			 Violence against the person 5,746 
			 (1) Being on bail does not necessary mean found guilty of an offence Source: Police National Computer, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	The figures presented in the table are derived from the dataset used for the latest (Q1 2012) publication of Criminal Justice Statistics quarterly update which can be viewed at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics
	The figures given in the table have been drawn from the extract of Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Ministry of Justice. As with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	In particular the recording of information on whether or not the offence was committed while the offender was on bail is known to be incomplete. This is because the police have available to them a number of ways of recording the bail status of an offender of which the 'offence committed on bail' field on the PNC is one. For operational purposes police forces make differing use of these various sources and as a result figures derived purely from the PNC do not provide a complete picture of these offences, and therefore changes over time. These figures may not represent real changes in offending while on bail. Furthermore, the information held does not indicate the nature of the earlier offence for which the bail was granted but it is likely that most of the offences summarised in the table will have been committed while the offender was on bail for a less serious offences. In addition, where an offender was sentenced on the same occasion for several offences it is the primary offence that has been counted.

Disability Living Allowance: Appeals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost is of an appeal against removal of disability living allowance.

Helen Grant: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to disability living allowance.
	HMCTS cannot isolate costs data relating to particular benefits. The average cost of an individual first-tier tribunal—social security and child support case across all benefits in 2011-12 (the most recent figure available) was £228. In 2010-11 the average cost was £239.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what definition of a drug dealer is used in (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies.

Jeremy Wright: Although there is not a legal definition of the term 'drug dealer' used by the Ministry of Justice or its arm’s length bodies, the Secretary of State for Justice considers that drug dealing is a form of drug supply. Statutory provisions relating to drug supply are found in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (the MDA 1971) and connected secondary legislation. Of most relevance are Sections 4 and 5 of the MDA 1971, which impose restriction on the production, supply, possession and possession with intent to supply of controlled drugs.

European Court of Human Rights

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what response the Government has given to the invitation from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for voluntary contributions to fund the recruitment of lawyers to deal with the backlog of priority cases in the European Court of Human Rights.

Jeremy Wright: As indicated by the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 7 September, Official Report, column 466W, no decision has been taken on whether to make a contribution to the Council of Europe Secretary-General's Special Fund for the European Court of Human Rights.

Fines

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total monetary value of fines written off was in each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: The value of financial impositions cancelled in the last five years is:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Legally cancelled Administratively cancelled 
			 2007-08 53,872,752 53,150,325 
			 2008-09 47,408,421 55,666,410 
			 2009-10 58,277,772 47,398,379 
			 2010-11 62,263,874 50,712,367 
			 2011-12 63,957,203 63,135,442 
		
	
	The amounts above include all elements of financial penalties (excluding confiscation orders), which are fines, costs, compensation and victim surcharge, as it is not possible to identify the amounts written off for just the fine element. The amounts cancelled in a particular year can relate to impositions from that year or any previous one.

Magistrates’ Courts: Translation Services

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of providing translation services in magistrates courts in (a) London and (b) England in each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: Information on the cost of translation in the magistrate's courts was not collected separately prior to 30 January 2012. However we estimate that the cost of services to the Department was approximately £30 million, including all criminal and civil courts and tribunals. The lack of visibility of the amounts spent in this area was one of the factors which led the Department to make a change to the way these services are sourced. This information will be more readily available in the future.

Prisoner Escapes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoners of each category escaped from public prisons between May 1997 and May 2010;
	(2)  how many prisoners of each category escaped from private prisons between May 1997 and May 2010;
	(3)  how many prisoners of each category have escaped from public prisons since May 2010;
	(4)  how many prisoners in each category of prisoner have escaped from private prisons since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The following tables show the number of escapes from public and private prisons for the periods requested and broken down by category of prisoner where this is possible.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of escapes from public and private prisons between May 1997 and May 2010 
			  Number 
			 Escapes from public prisons 18 
			 Escapes from private prisons 7 
			 Note: Information on category of prisoner is not recorded centrally, other than for category A prisoners, and to provide this information for the incidents above would require a manual examination of each prisoner's record, where still available, which could only be done at disproportionate cost. There have been no Category A escapes from prison since 1995. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of escapes from public and private prisons between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2012 (1) , by prisoner category 
			 Number 
			  Category C Uncategorised 
			 Number of escapes from public prisons 1 2 
			 Number of escapes from private prisons 0 0 
			 (1) March 2012 is the latest period for which validated figures are available. 
		
	
	The number of escapes from prison has been falling since 1995 when central records began, despite an increasing prison population. There are on average no more than one or two escapes from prison establishments each year.

Prisoner Escapes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how long on average it took to recapture escaped prisoners between May 1997 and 2010;
	(2)  how long on average it has taken to recapture escaped prisoners since 2010;
	(3)  which prison has experienced the highest number of escapes since 2010;
	(4)  how many prisoners who have escaped remain at large, by category of prisoner.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the average time escaped prisoners have spent unlawfully at large for the time periods requested. This data relates to prisoners who have escaped from prison establishment or HM Prison Service escorts.
	
		
			 Table 1: Average time prisoners have spent unlawfully at large 
			  Average time UAL following escape (1)  (days) 
			 May 1997 to April 2010 72 
			 May 2010 to March 2012(2) 31 
			 (1) The data in this table relates to prisoners who have escaped from prison establishment or HM Prison Service escort only. Data on recapture of prisoners who have escaped from contractors escort is not centrally available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Most contractor escapes occur at court. (2) March 2012 is the latest period for which validated figures are available. 
		
	
	There have only been three escapes from prison establishments between 1 January 2010 and 31 March 2012; one each from HMP Edmunds Hill, HMYOI Wetherby and HMYOI Hindley.
	The following table shows the number of prisoners who remain unlawfully at large, according to their category. This data relates to prisoners who have escaped from prison establishment or prison escort or any escape involving a Category A prisoner.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of prisoners who remain unlawfully at large following an escape between April 1997 and March 2012, by category 
			 Category Number 
			 C 3 
			 Uncategorised 2 
			 Detainee 1 
			 YOI 1 
			 Provisional Category A 1 
			 Note: The data in this table relates to prisoner who have escaped from prison establishment, HM Prison Service escort or any escapes involving Category A prisoners. Data on recapture of prisoners who have escaped from contractors escort is not centrally available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Most contractor escapes occur at court.

Prisoners

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many hours per week of purposeful activity was undertaken by offenders of each security category in each of the last three years;
	(2)  many hours per week were spent in cells by prisoners in each of the last three years by security category of prisoner.

Jeremy Wright: Information on purposeful activity and time in cell is available by overall prison establishment and is not disaggregated by prisoner security category. However, the establishment-level figures can be aggregated according to category of prison and these figures are set out in the following tables. Table 1 shows average hours of purposeful activity per week by prison category. Table 2 sets out the average hours in cell per week day.
	
		
			 Table 1: Purposeful activity: Average hours per prisoner per week by prison category 
			 Prison category 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Category B 26.7 27.1 30.1 
			 Category C 24.7 24.8 25.2 
			 Cluster 26.2 25.6 24.7 
			 Dispersal 20.5 20.7 21.7 
			 Female closed 29.1 30.9 29.5 
			 Female local 24.8 24.7 23.8 
			 Female open 43.4 42.5 42.3 
			 Male closed young offender 24.5 24.2 24.0 
			 Male juvenile 31.5 28.9 27.5 
			 Male local 20.9 21.4 21.4 
			 Male open 42.9 42.5 44.2 
			 Male open young offender 43.2 45.3 47.0 
			 Semi open 38.6 43.9 45.6 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Time in cell: Average hours per prisoner per week day by prison category 
			 Prison category 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Category B 14.4 14.1 13.9 
			 Category C 14.2 14.2 14.1 
			 Cluster 13.2 14.5 14.5 
			 Dispersal 15.0 15.0 15.1 
			 Female closed 13.7 12.8 13.6 
			 Female local 13.6 13.5 14.1 
			 Female open 7.6 7.6 7.6 
			 Male closed young offender 16.0 15.8 16.2 
			 Male juvenile 13.7 14.3 14.4 
			 Male local 15.7 15.5 15.4 
			 Male open 8.6 8.1 8.1 
			 Male open young offender 9.9 9.0 10.2 
			 Semi open 8.1 6.0 6.2 
		
	
	In the above tables prisons are categorised according to their predominant function, though some establishments will have more than one function.
	The figures for Table 1 are taken from the Prison Performance Digest 2011-12, which has been published on the Justice website:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/prison-probation/prison-probation-performance-stats/prison-performance-digest-2011-12.xls
	The figures for Table 2 are derived from information collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners are unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.
	The figures used in the answer have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners on Remand

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were remanded in custody in each of the last three years; in respect of what offences were such people remanded; how many such defendants were then convicted; and how many of those convicted were sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

Helen Grant: The number of defendants proceeded against by type of remand and final outcome at all courts in England and Wales in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (latest currently available) can be viewed in Tables 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
	
		
			 Table 1: Defendants proceeded against by type of remand and final outcome at magistrates courts (1)  and tried at the Crown court, 2009 (2) , England and Wales 
			 Defendants (thousand and percentage) 
			 Final outcome Not remanded Bailed Remanded in custody (6) Total 
			 Number (thousand)     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 168.0 102.2 9.5 279.7 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 27.6 63.2 2.0 92.8 
			 Fine 794.5 147.8 3.2 945.5 
			 Community sentence(3) 32.7 156.1 6.9 195.8 
			 Suspended sentence 6.5 34.1 4.5 45.1 
			 Immediate custody(4) 20.4 36.4 43.4 100.2 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 12.9 11.5 2.1 26.5 
			 Total defendants sentenced 894.7 449.2 62.1 1,405.9 
			      
			 Total 1,062.7 551.4 71.5 1,685.6 
			      
			 Percentage     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 16 19 13 17 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 3 11 3 6 
			 Fine 75 27 4 56 
			 Community sentence(3) 3 28 10 12 
			 Suspended sentence 1 6 6 3 
			 Immediate custody(4) 2 7 61 6 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 1 2 3 2 
			 Total percentage sentenced 84 81 87 83 
			      
			 Total 100 100 100 100 
			 (1) Magistrates courts data presented in this table exclude those who failed to appear and committals for trial or sentence. (2) Data for 2009 are estimated. (3) Community rehabilitation orders, supervision orders, community punishment orders, attendance. centre orders, community punishment and rehabilitation orders, curfew orders, reparation orders action plan orders and drug treatment and testing orders. (4) Includes detention in a young offender institution, detention and training orders and unsuspended imprisonment. (5) Includes one day in police cells, disqualification order, restraining order, confiscation order, travel restriction order, disqualification from driving, ASBO and recommendation for deportation and other disposals. 6 Includes those remanded for part of the time in custody and part on bail. Note: Some figures may not sum due to rounding. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Defendants proceeded against by type of remand and final o utcome at magistrates  courts (1)  and tried  at the Crown c ourt, 2010 (2) , England and Wales 
			 Defendants (thousand and percentage) 
			 Final outcome Not remanded Bailed Remanded in custody (6) Total 
			 Number (thousand)     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 165.4 108.0 11.9 285.3 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 30.0 67.6 1.7 99.4 
			 Fine 751.6 139.9 2.4 893.9 
			 Community sentence(3) 35.4 147.5 6.4 189.3 
			 Suspended sentence 7.6 36.2 4.3 48.1 
			 Immediate custody(4) 25.3 36.3 40.0 101.5 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 13.8 16.7 2.7 33.1 
			 Total defendants sentenced 863.7 444.1 57.5 1,365.3 
			      
			 Total 1,029.1 552.1 69.4 1,650.6 
			      
			 Percentage     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 16 20 17 17 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 3 12 2 6 
			 Fine 73 25 3 54 
			 Community sentence(3) 3 27 9 11 
		
	
	
		
			 Suspended sentence 1 7 6 3 
			 Immediate custody(4) 2 7 58 6 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 1 3 4 2 
			 Total percentage sentenced 84 80 83 83 
			      
			 Total 100 100 100 100 
			 (1) Magistrates courts data presented in this table exclude those who failed to appear and committals for trial or sentence. (2) Magistrates courts data for 2010 are estimated. (3) Community rehabilitation orders, supervision orders, community punishment orders, attendance centre orders, community punishment and rehabilitation orders, curfew orders, reparation orders action plan orders and drug treatment and testing orders. (4) Includes detention in a young offender institution, detention and training orders and unsuspended imprisonment. (5) Includes one day in police cells, disqualification order, restraining order, confiscation order, travel restriction order, disqualification from driving, ASBO and recommendation for deportation and other disposals. (6) Includes those remanded for part of the time in custody and part on bail. Note: Some figures may not sum due to rounding. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Defendants proceeded against by type of remand and final outcome at magistrates courts (1)  and tried at the Crown court, 2011 (2) , England and Wales 
			 Defendants (thousand and percentage) 
			 Final outcome Not remanded Bailed Remanded in custody (6) Total 
			 Number (thousand )     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 153.8 98.0 10.9 262.6 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 30.2 61.6 1.3 93.0 
			 Fine 720.3 129.5 1.8 851.6 
			 Community sentence(3) 34.7 133.1 5.6 173.4 
			 Suspended sentence 8.2 35.6 4.0 47.8 
			 Immediate custody(4) 24.6 36.6 41.5 102.7 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 13.3 14.9 2.4 30.7 
			 Total defendants sentenced 831.3 411.3 56.6 1,299.3 
			      
			 Total 985.1 509.3 67.5 1,561.9 
			      
			 Percentage     
			 Acquitted or not proceeded with etc. 15.6 19.2 16.1 16.8 
			 Convicted:     
			 Discharge 3.1 12.1 1.9 6.0 
			 Fine 73.1 25.4 2.7 54.5 
			 Community sentence(3) 3.5 26.1 8.3 11.1 
			 Suspended sentence 0.8 7.0 5.9 3.1 
			 Immediate custody(4) 2.5 7.2 61.5 6.6 
			 Otherwise dealt with(5) 1.4 2.9 3.6 2.0 
			 Total percentage sentenced 84.4 80.8 83.9 83.2 
			      
			 Total 100 100 100 100 
			 (1 )Magistrates courts data presented in this table exclude those who failed to appear and committals for trial or sentence. (2) Magistrates courts data for 2011 are estimated. (3) Community rehabilitation orders, supervision orders, community punishment orders, attendance centre orders, community punishment and rehabilitation orders, curfew orders, reparation orders, actions plan orders and drug treatment and testing orders. (4) Includes detention in a young offender institution, detention and training orders and unsuspended imprisonment. (5) Includes one day in police cells, disqualification order, restraining order, confiscation order, travel restriction order, disqualification from driving, recommendation for deportation and other disposals. (6) Includes those remanded for part of the time in custody and part on bail. Remand status used for the Crown component is that recorded at the point of committal from the magistrates court to the Crown court for trial or sentence. Note: Some figures may not sum due to rounding.

Prisons: Restraint Techniques

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times girls have been restrained in prison in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The table shows the number of females aged 10 to 17 years requiring restrictive physical intervention while being held in custody within the youth secure estate (secure children's homes, secure training centres or under-18 young offender institutions) in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. Comparable data for previous years is not centrally held.
	This data was published by the Ministry of Justice in January 2012 in the Youth Justice Statistics 2010-11 publication:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/youth-justice/statistics
	Data for 2011-12 will be published in January 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Total number of restraint incidents of females (aged 10 to 17 years) in the under 18's secure estate, 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			  Female restraint incidents 
			 2008-09 1,287 
			 2009-10 1,054 
			 2010-11 494

Probation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the minimum number of hours is that an offender under a probation order needs to spend with their offender manager in any week, by type of order.

Jeremy Wright: There is no set minimum number of hours that an offender, subject to a Community Order (a successor order to the Probation Order), needs to spend with his/her offender manager in any week.
	Under the National Standards for the Management of Offenders, issued in 2011, offender managers are required to arrange, as a mandatory minimum requirement,
	“weekly contact, with offender assessed as presenting a high/very high risk of serious harm”
	and in all other cases to maintain a level of contact
	“sufficient to deliver the sentence plan and monitor changes in dynamic risk factors”.
	Offenders frequently have contact with other staff from probation trusts and voluntary organisations, whilst undertaking other requirements of the Community Order such as unpaid work, drug rehabilitation and accredited programmes.

Reoffenders

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders were recalled to prison following a breach of tagging conditions in each of the last three years; and how many such offenders returned to prison as instructed.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders released on home detention curfew (HDC) whose licence was revoked and who were recalled to prison for breaching their conditions is provided in table A. These figures are taken from Table A3.6 of the Offender Management Statistics, Annual Tables 2011, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library and which can also be found online at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/oms-quarterly
	Details of which of these offenders recalled from HDC were returned to prison could be obtained only by a data matching exercise at disproportionate cost. However, we do have information on the number of all offenders recalled and returned to custody for all offences, these are provided in table B. This shows that over 99% of recalled prisoners were returned to custody in each of the three years. The remainder includes some who have died or who were removed from the UK after their licence was revoked but before return could be effected.
	These figures are taken from Table 5.1 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library and which can also be found online at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/oms-quarterly
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Table A: Home detention curfew recalls by reason (1)  England and Wales 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Males and females 1,441 1,154 1,179 
			     
			 Cases not involving new charges 1,210 946 940 
			 Breach of HDC conditions 927 622 703 
			 Installation failure 108 152 103 
			 Monitoring failure 2 0 2 
			 Change of circumstances 78 58 35 
			 Risk of serious harm 0 0 1 
			 Breach of non-HDC licence conditions 95 114 96 
			     
			 Cases involving new charges 231 208 239 
			 Breach of HDC conditions 3 3 15 
			 Inability to monitor 0 0 3 
			 Risk of serious harm 0 0 0 
			 Charged with new offence 228 205 221 
			 (1) Data for 2011 are based on information recorded on the central prison IT system on 29 February 2012. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Summary of licence recalls 1 January 2009 to 31 March 2012 and returns to custody by 30 June 2012, England and Wales 
			 Year of recall (April to March) Recalled Returned to custody as of 30 June 2012 (1) Percentage returned to custody (1) Not returned to custody as of 30 June 2012 Percentage not returned to custody 
			 2009-10 15,004 14,885 99.2 114 0.8 
			 2010-11 15,631 15,499 99.2 115 0.7 
			       
			 April to June 2011 4,036 3,974 98.5 41 1.0 
			 July to September 2011 4,353 4,244 97.5 55 1.3 
			 October to December 2011 4,017 3,925 97.7 63 1.6 
			 January to March 2012 4,185 4,107 98.1 78 1.9 
			 Total 139,191 n/a n/a 988 0.7 
			 (1)The number returned to custody includes those who are confirmed dead or were deported by the UK Borders Agency.

Reoffenders

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people who completed an anger replacement training programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing that programme in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people who completed a Community Sex Offenders Programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing that programme in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many people who completed an Internet Sex Offenders Programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing that programme in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many people who completed an Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme and a Community Domestic Violence Programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing that programme in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available in a readily accessible electronic format and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A complex data-matching exercise would need to be undertaken to combine the data held on reoffending and offending behaviour programmes.

Reoffenders

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people spent a period residing in an approved premises in England and Wales for the latest year for which figures are available; and how many of those people were recalled to custody due to a breach of a condition of their licence.

Jeremy Wright: In 2011-12, there were 11,077 admissions to approved premises.
	Statistics are not collected centrally in the form requested and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Reoffenders

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the 12-month reconviction rate was for each type of sentence for those found guilty of rape in each year since 1994;
	(2)  what the 12-month reconviction rate was for each type of sentence for those found guilty of robbery in each year since 1994;
	(3)  what the 12-month reconviction rate was for each type of sentence for those found guilty of theft from a vehicle in each year since 1994;
	(4)  what the 12-month reconviction rate was for each type of sentence for those found guilty of grievous bodily harm in each year since 1994;
	(5)  what the 12-month reconviction rate was for those found guilty of actual bodily harm, by type of sentence, in each year between 1994 and 2011.

Jeremy Wright: These questions have been answered using the Ministry of Justice's published proven reoffending statistics for England and Wales, broken down further by sentence and offence type. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the latest bulletin, for the period January to December 2010, was published on 25 October 2012.
	The following table shows the number of adult offenders in England and Wales who were released from custody or received a non-custodial conviction at court for offences of rape, robbery, theft from a vehicle, grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm, by sentence type, in each year between 2000 and 2010; and the proportion that committed a proven re-offence within a one year follow-up period (i.e. the one year proven reoffending rate).
	The Ministry of Justice does not hold proven reoffending rates for years prior to 2000; 2000 is the earliest year for which proven reoffending rates exist on a comparable basis. Furthermore, 2010 is the latest full calendar year for which data are available.
	A proven re-offence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.
	Proven reoffending rates by sentence type should not be compared to assess their effectiveness as there is no control for known differences in offender characteristics.
	Please note that proven reoffending statistics are available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
	
		
			 Number of adult offenders in England and Wales who were released from custody or received a non-custodial conviction at court for offences of rape, robbery, theft from a vehicle, grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm, by sentence type, in each year between 2000 and 2010; and the proportion that committed a proven re-offence within a one year follow-up period (1,2) 
			 Offence Sentence 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Rape Absolute/Conditional Discharge           
			  Number of offenders in cohort(5) 1 0 2 2 1 1 2 1 0 2 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) * — * * * * * * — * 
			             
			  Fine           
			  Number of offenders in cohort(5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) — — — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Court Order(3)           
			  Number of offenders in cohort(5) 5 7 2 4 7 4 13 8 12 14 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) * * * * * * * * * * 
			             
			  Custody           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 398 400 425 458 472 422 498 534 479 376 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 15.3 15.5 13.2 7.6 11.4 12.6 11.4 12.7 9.4 14.1 
			             
			  Other           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 15 14 14 21 27 35 19 27 34 34 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) * * * * * 2.9 * * 0.0 0.0 
			             
			 Robbery Absolute/Conditional Discharge           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 15 12 10 13 10 9 18 7 7 9 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) * * * * * * * * * * 
			             
			  Fine           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 6 2 4 4 6 3 4 5 2 2 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) * * * * * * * * * * 
			             
			  Court Order(3)           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 201 223 315 315 369 446 629 557 604 671 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 36.8 40.4 41.9 48.9 43.9 38.3 35.5 34.1 34.3 33.1 
			             
			  Custody           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 2,806 3,090 3,408 3,471 3,313 3,276 3,543 3,747 3,625 2,638 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 44.5 45.5 43.7 40.3 39.9 38.9 40.8 40.2 40.5 42.1 
			             
			  Other           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 51 67 58 67 71 67 68 83 79 117 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 19.6 20.9 17.2 14.9 11.3 11.9 11.8 13.3 2.5 15.4 
			             
			 Theft from a vehicle Absolute/Conditional Discharge           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 561 548 581 497 452 524 479 435 386 383 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 53.8 52.2 51.5 48.1 51.3 46.8 53.0 48.5 43.3 46.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Fine           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 898 671 613 450 406 406 357 351 340 349 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 46.1 46.8 46.8 47.1 52.0 49.8 53.8 47.6 44.7 50.7 
			             
			  Court Order(3)           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 1,225 1,272 1,226 1,091 1,169 1,508 1,506 1,470 1,445 1,323 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 64.2 67.4 66.8 65.2 66.0 62.0 64.3 66.7 58.2 63.6 
			             
			  Custody           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 724 770 742 669 585 681 745 747 656 556 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 77.3 80.4 83.2 76.5 77.4 76.1 79.6 78.0 74.8 80.2 
			             
			  Other           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 108 107 115 105 105 97 111 120 113 158 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 63.0 66.4 69.6 66.7 72.4 72.2 64.9 57.5 65.5 63.9 
			             
			 Grievous Bodily Harm Absolute/Conditional Discharge           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 77 56 66 46 50 44 40 27 21 23 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 13.0 12.5 12.1 10.9 16.0 2.3 12.5 * * * 
			             
			  Fine           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 81 43 46 45 28 28 21 20 15 15 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 12.3 18.6 13.0 8.9 * * * * * * 
			             
			  Court Order(3)           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 1,220 1,216 1,347 1,226 1,271 1,575 1,684 1,651 1,664 2,030 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 17.4 18.7 19.0 17.0 18.7 16.1 18.5 18.7 15.5 15.4 
			             
			  Custody           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 2,852 2,999 2,927 2,972 2,980 2,652 2,848 3,161 3,217 2,800 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 27.8 28.1 27.3 25.0 24.1 25.2 25.1 25.0 24.7 25.8 
			             
			  Other           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 123 137 132 146 149 137 150 148 159 153 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 5.7 1.5 9.1 8.9 4.0 2.9 4.7 1.4 4.4 3.3 
		
	
	
		
			 Actual Bodily Harm Absolute/Conditional Discharge           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 1,426 1,040 997 886 798 639 543 385 265 330 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 13.0 14.9 14.4 13.1 12.0 13.5 14.2 10.6 12.5 11.5 
			             
			  Fine           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 1,306 888 846 642 544 457 425 257 228 191 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 12.9 16.1 16.2 14.8 14.7 11.8 12.5 11.7 13.6 12.6 
			             
			  Court Order(3)           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 5,244 5,149 5,363 5,181 5,941 7,317 7,534 7,249 7,551 8,287 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 21.8 24.0 24.1 22.3 22.7 23.2 23.2 22.4 22.3 20.8 
			             
			  Custody           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 3,146 2,824 2,637 2,721 3,027 2,818 2,943 3,276 3,598 3,178 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 36.4 38.0 37.4 35.5 36.7 35.1 37.2 39.6 37.6 35.6 
			             
			  Other           
			  Number of offenders in cohort 404 318 282 252 263 240 197 198 255 311 
			  Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 19.3 18.2 18.8 17.9 19.4 18.8 16.8 15.7 12.2 19.3 
			 (1) Data are not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data on court orders. (2) The number of offenders does not represent all convicted offenders. Offenders who were released from custody or commenced a court order are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders who cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort (i.e. the group of offenders for which reoffending is measured). (3) Court orders include pre-Criminal Justice Act 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders. Italics means less than 30 offenders—treat data with caution. * Data based on less than 30 offenders are removed as they make data unreliable for interpretation. ‘—’= Not applicable.

SCOTLAND

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office endeavours to pay all its suppliers within five days of receipt of a valid invoice. The Office's performance over the last three financial years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Financial year Within  five  days (from May  20 10) Within 10 days 
			 2009-10 n/a 98.6 
			 2010-11 98.7 99.6 
			 2011-12 97.8 99.9

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not maintain a central record of what the average cost to the Department was of processing the payment of an invoice. In September 2012, the Scotland Office paid 95.2% of invoices within five days, of which 98% were paid electronically and 2% by cheque.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

David Mundell: Newspapers and magazines are purchased on account via an external provider. They are:
	The Herald
	The Financial Times
	The Daily Record
	The Scottish Sun
	The Guardian
	The Scotsman
	The Telegraph Scotland
	The Times Scotland
	The Courier
	The Independent
	The Press and Journal
	Scottish Daily Express
	Scottish Daily Mail
	Scottish Business Insider
	The Scottish Farmer
	Holyrood Magazine
	Journals
	Vachers

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office spent £6,087.97 on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Vacancies

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's vacancy rate was in 2011-12; and what vacancy rate has been assumed for 2012-13.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office keeps its staffing complement under constant review to ensure that the most efficient use is made of public resources.
	The staff vacancy rate for 2011-12 was 2.5%. We project that a similar rate will apply for 2012-13.

HEALTH

Cancer

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to his answer of 25 June 2012, Official Report, column 225W, on cancer: children, on what evidence his Department based its estimate that up to 1,500 patients would be in need of proton therapy in London and Manchester by 2017;
	(2)  how many patients have been sent overseas for proton beam therapy in each of the last five years;
	(3)  with reference to the answer of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 209W, on brain cancer, who the members were of the expert clinical advisory group established to look at the options for the development of proton beam therapy; and from what institutions they were drawn;
	(4)  what the current number of patients per annum is that he estimates will be in need of proton therapy for specific primary tumours in each of the next three years.

Anna Soubry: On 12 October, we published the ‘National Proton Beam Therapy Service Development Programme Strategic Outline Case’. Page 11 provides a breakdown of the paediatric and adult cancers that make up the figure of 1,500 patients and Annex A provides references for the evidence to support these figures. Annex H lists membership of the expert clinical advisory group established to look at the options for the development of proton beam therapy (PBT) in England. A copy of the strategic outline case has been placed in the Library.
	From 2008, patients with high priority cancers have been sent overseas for PBT treatment. A Proton Therapy Clinical Reference Panel, established by the National Commissioning Group, advises on suitable cases for this treatment. Information concerning the number of patients sent abroad in each of the last four years is placed in the following table.
	
		
			  Patient numbers 
			 2008-09 11 
			 2009-10 20 
			 2010-11 50 
			 2011-12 79 
		
	
	In October 2010, the Government announced it would increase funding for the overseas programme over the spending review (SR) so that all high priority patients with a need for PBT get access, treating 400 patients per year by the end of the SR period in 2014-15.

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Daniel Poulter: The Department requires that all cleaning materials used to carry out cleaning services must be fully compliant with legislation and/or industry standards and be compliant with sustainability specifications outlined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. While it does not stipulate that products used should not have been tested on animals our contractor has confirmed that all of the commonly used cleaning products are not tested on animals.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) criteria and (b) assessment process is for awarding the dementia friendly community status outlined in the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia; and who is undertaking the assessment.

Norman Lamb: The Dementia Friendly Communities Champion Group, established as part of the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia, is currently developing criteria and a process for the recognition of places and organisations which are working to become dementia friendly. Alzheimer's Society recently carried out a consultation on the recognition process for dementia friendly communities, on behalf of the Champion Group, and the responses to that consultation are currently being analysed.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the progress reported to him in September 2012 by the three champion groups for the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

Norman Lamb: Yes, the progress report will be published next month.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia, what the application process is for NHS staff applying for the innovation challenge prize; how many ideas have been submitted since the challenge was launched; and how many such applications have been successful.

Daniel Poulter: The Prime Minister announced his Dementia Challenge in March 2012, which included a Challenge Prize of up to £1 million, to:
	“achieve a dramatic reduction in the proportion of people who have undiagnosed dementia, with evidence of a step change in the diagnosis rate and a strong service response”.
	The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), subsequently launched the challenge in June 2012, alongside separate challenges in stroke and diabetes.
	The application process for the challenge can be found on the main NHS Innovation Challenge Prize website at:
	www.challengeprizes.institute.nhs.uk
	Unlike the original Innovation Challenges (which were launched in December 2010), all three of the new Breakthrough Challenges have been designed to drive significant breakthroughs in the treatment and management of a health condition. As a result, we would expect it to take at least 18 to 24 months for these challenges to be solved. The proposed prize for meeting these challenges is substantial (up to £1 million), which reflects the effort that competing organisations would have to put in to win.
	Therefore, we have not received any completed applications at present, and we would not expect to receive any until late 2013 at the earliest. This is a true challenge prize approach in that we seek to inspire providers and health communities to adopt our challenge within their objectives, and then work towards the evidence required to win over the next 18 to 24 months.
	The detailed application and assessment process will be published on the site early in 2013. At present, we are asking potential applicants to register their interest with us in tackling this long term challenge so that we can readily identify support for applicants from within the NHS infrastructure.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia, how much has been awarded through Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation to hospitals offering quality dementia care since April 2012; and which hospitals have received such awards.

Norman Lamb: Payments under the CQUIN scheme are agreed and made locally, and this information is not collected centrally by the Department.

Food: Charitable Donations

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2012, Official Report, column 477W, on food: charitable donations, if he will place a copy of the advice provided by the Food Standards Agency on the feasibility of introducing legislation to remove criminal and civil liability from good faith food donors in the Library, including the opinion of the FSA of the compatibility of such legislation with EU food safety laws.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advice is that there can be no exemptions from the scope of food safety legislation for operations supplying food, whether for profit or not.
	The European food safety legislation is in place to protect public health, is risk-based and can be applied proportionately by operations donating food without undue burdens to those operations.
	The FSA supports efforts to put in place measures to redistribute food where these measures comply with the food safety legislation and do not compromise consumer safety.

General Practitioners

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2012, Official Report, column 429W, on general practitioners, 
	(1)  how many people were considered for each role on clinical commissioning groups;
	(2)  how many applicants were judged to be not eligible for appointment;
	(3)  how many of the accountable officer and chair applicants have been appointed to a position on a clinical commissioning group.

Anna Soubry: A clinical commissioning group must nominate a chair and an accountable officer at the time of applying to the NHS Commissioning Board (the Board) for authorisation. The chair and accountable officer will be confirmed during this process and formally appointed following the Board's final decision on authorisation. As decisions on the authorisation of clinical commissioning groups are yet to be made, no chairs or accountable officers have been appointed. The Board is therefore unable to confirm how many applicants have been considered, rejected or appointed.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Mid Sussex of 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 352W, on health services: overseas visitors, when his Department's review of the continuing entitlement of foreign nationals to access free national health service services will be published; and when the public consultation on the review will (a) commence and (b) close.

Anna Soubry: The initial phase of the Department's review of charging overseas visitors for national health service care has concluded and its findings are being considered. The Department will respond in due course.
	Any proposals arising from the review, to amend legislation to change the rules governing the entitlement of overseas visitors to free NHS care, will be subject to public consultation. The time scale for any such consultation is yet to be decided.

Health Services: Homelessness

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve hospital discharge procedures for homeless people.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), on 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 1035W.

Health Services: Homelessness

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that homeless people are able to register with a GP.

Daniel Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 1035W, to my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland).

Health Services: Homelessness

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve health services for homeless people.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2012, Official Report, column 779W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Gordon Henderson).

Heart Diseases: Children

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will clarify the role of (a) the National Commissioning Group, (b) the National Specialised Commissioning Group and (c) the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services in the Safe and Sustainable Review of children's heart surgery services;
	(2)  if he will direct (a) the National Commissioning Group, (b) the National Specialised Commissioning Group and (c) the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services to publish all reports, meeting agendas and minutes connected with the Safe and Sustainable Review of children's heart surgery services;
	(3)  if he will direct the Joint Committee for Primary Care Trusts to publish the agendas, reports and minutes of all meetings of (a) the Joint Committee for Primary Care Trusts and (b) its secretariat, associated with the drafting and agreement of the Safe and Sustainable Decision-Making Business Case.

Anna Soubry: The Safe and Sustainable Review of children's congenital heart services was led by the National Specialised Commissioning Group (NSCG) on behalf of the 10 Specialised Commissioning Groups in England and their constituent primary care trusts. In December 2009, the NSCG recommended the establishment of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) with delegated powers of consultation and decision making. This recommendation was endorsed by the then Secretary of State for Health in July 2010.
	The Advisory Group for National Specialised Services (AGNSS) is an independent advisory group that advises Ministers in the Department on which highly specialised services and technologies for people with rare conditions, centres and funding should be commissioned on a national basis. When there is a change to the centres designated to provide a service, AGNSS provides advice to Ministers for their consideration.
	AGNSS provided advice to Ministers when it became clear that the JCPCT's decision on 4 July 2012 on the future pattern of children's heart surgery had implications for the nationally commissioned paediatric Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation service. AGNSS is the successor advisory group to the National Commissioning Group (NCG) and the NCG had no role in the Safe and Sustainable Review.
	In view of the JCPCT's acknowledgement in the public consultation document that its eventual decision could have implications for some nationally commissioned services, AGNSS submitted its advice to the JCPCT on the three nationally commissioned services that could have been affected. That advice can be found in the decision-making document that was considered by the JCPCT on 4 July and was published on the specialised services website:
	www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/document/safe-sustainable-review-children-s-congenital-cardiac-surgery-decision-making-business-case
	The review of children's congenital heart services is a clinically led, national health service review, and is independent of Government. It is therefore, for the NSCG and the JCPCT to decide which documents to publish in connection with the review. The NSCG and JCPCT documents are published on the NHS Specialised Services website:
	www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/
	Minutes of the meetings of AGNSS and the NSCG are published on the website of the NSCG at:
	www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/document/agnss-agenda-26th-september-2011/search:true
	Papers to AGNSS and from AGNSS to Ministers are confidential as they are part of the process of developing advice to Ministers on the specialised services that should be nationally commissioned.

NHS: Foreign Workers

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the outsourcing of NHS back-office functions to India; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not received any representations about the outsourcing of NHS back-office functions to India.

NHS: Innovation

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure on consultants his Department has incurred in respect of Change Day; and what expenditure he expects to incur on such consultants in each of the next three years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not allocated any resources to NHS Change Day as its origins are from the national health service frontline. However, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has been approached to support the activities to make NHS Change Day effective, and to this end are seeking a communications partner. A tender exercise is currently being run for a maximum of £30,000. Future funding for NHS Change Day will be reviewed after the first NHS Change Day in March 2013.

NHS: Reorganisation

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department tendered for a consultancy to help communicate changes to the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The Department did not tender for a consultancy to help communicate changes to the national health service. However, a digital agency was used to produce an "infographic" of the structure of the new health and care system.

NHS: Reorganisation

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on briefing communication agencies about the changes being introduced to the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The Department did not appoint agencies to undertake any advertising or marketing activity connected with the reforms. However, there were some costs associated with communicating the reforms, including events and other communications activity. The Department estimates that the cost of this activity (events, publications, posters and online tools) was £71,971.

Palliative Care

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's publication Liberating the NHS: Greater Choice and Control, when he expects that the planned review of timing of the introduction of a national choice offer for people who want to die at home will commence; what plans he has to involve third-sector organisations in that review; and what funding has been allocated for the review.

Norman Lamb: We are committed to moving towards a national choice offer to support people's preferences about how to have a good death.
	A review of progress in delivering the initiatives set out in the “End of Life Care Strategy”, which are improving quality and choice in end of life and palliative care, will be held during 2013. This will inform us when a right to choose to die at home, including a care home, might feasibly be introduced. We are currently considering how this review might be best undertaken and the resources needed for this.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce a tariff for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatment.

Anna Soubry: For 2012-13, the use of currencies (the unit of health care for which payment is made) for external beam radiotherapy has been mandated. 19 non-mandatory tariff prices have been published, however these are indicative and commissioners and providers can agree local pricing.
	Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy is not included in the non-mandatory tariff prices. We will investigate the potential development of a range of tariffs to incentivise high quality, cost-effective services, including the newest radiotherapy techniques, once the mandatory standard radiotherapy tariff has been introduced in 2013-14.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average wage paid to Atos Healthcare-approved healthcare professionals.

Mark Hoban: The average wage paid by Atos Healthcare to an approved health care professional is a matter for Atos Healthcare to determine as part of their delivery of a managed service to DWP.

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether Atos Healthcare-approved health care professionals are paid per work capability assessment.

Mark Hoban: Atos Healthcare are responsible for determining their own approach for paying their health care professionals for delivery of work capability assessments.

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the annual profit Atos Healthcare made in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date through its medical services contract with his Department.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is commercially confidential. Our contracts are subject to commercially negotiated and mutually acceptable terms including appropriate mechanisms to ensure transparency of all charges and value for money for the Department in line with Cabinet Office requirements.

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2011, Official Report, column 894W, on departmental telephone services, how many staff are currently employed to answer his Department's 0800 2888 777 number for contacting Atos Healthcare in relation to the work capability assessment.

Mark Hoban: Staff that answer inquiries to the 0800 2888 777 helpline number are employed directly by Atos Healthcare. Atos Healthcare currently has 65 staff, equating to 62 full-time equivalents, working at their contact centre answering and making calls.

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 734W, on Atos Healthcare, how many staff were employed by Atos Healthcare under his Department's Medical Services Contract in each month in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Hoban: The total number of Atos Healthcare permanent staff employed on the medical services contract for each month requested is as follows:
	
		
			 Number 
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 January 1290 1445 1590 
			 February 1304 1448 1635 
			 March 1291 1447 1663 
			 April 1311 1469 1691 
			 May 1331 1483 1710 
			 June 1353 1496 1704 
			 July 1346 1510 1712 
			 August 1363 1496 1721 
			 September 1382 1527 1724 
			 October 1398 1520 — 
			 November 1420 1551 — 
			 December 1413 1539 — 
		
	
	The total number of Atos permanent employees is made up of administrative, healthcare professionals (nurses, physiotherapists and doctors) and management staff.

Civil Servants: Business Interests

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the appointment of the official formerly responsible for the Work programme was subject to approval by the Business Appointments Committee; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 26 October 2012
	Under the terms of the Civil Service Management Code, civil servants are required to seek approval for appointments outside the civil service. In this case the official is not at a level of seniority that requires submission to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments; the decision is instead delegated to the permanent secretary of the Department.
	The permanent secretary has determined that the official must serve a three month waiting period before taking up his appointment, is banned from lobbying across central Government for two years, and may not work on the Work programme.

Employment and Support Allowance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many members of the employment support allowance work related activity group there are in each category of impairment in (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and (b) Greater London for the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The employment and support allowance (ESA) work-related activity group caseloads in each category of impairment in (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and (b) London region for February 2012 are as follows:
	
		
			  Phase of ESA claim work-related activity group 
			 IB International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code London region Hillingdon local authority 
			 Total 38,300 1,270 
			    
			 Claimants without any diagnosis code on the system (1)— (1)— 
			 Certain infectious and parasitic diseases 530 10 
			 Neoplasms 520 20 
			 Diseases of the blood and blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism 130 (1)— 
			 Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases 700 30 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders 18,070 560 
			 Diseases of the nervous system 1,680 70 
			 Diseases of the eye and adnexa 340 10 
			 Diseases of the ear and mastoid process 200 10 
			 Diseases of the circulatory system 1,480 70 
			 Diseases of the respiratory system 670 20 
			 Diseases of the digestive system 550 20 
			 Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous system 200 10 
			 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 6,000 240 
			 Diseases of the genitourinary system 470 20 
			 Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium 70 (1)— 
			 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (1)— (1)— 
			 Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities 50 (1)— 
			 Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 4,600 110 
			 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 1,710 70 
			 Factors influencing health status and contact with health services 340 10 
			 (1) Nil or negligible. Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. IB ICD (disease) summary code ICD (disease) code causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. Medical condition is based on evidence provided at the start of the claim, this in itself does not confer entitlement to employment support allowance and may not represent a claimant’s most recent medical condition. For ESA claimants, data on medical condition are available only from February 2010 onwards. The "Other" category contains claimants with an unknown medical condition. 3. Phase of ESA claim phase/stage of ESA claim is available only from February 2010 onwards. The phase is derived from payment details held on the source system. Where the claimant is not in receipt of any benefit payment then the stage of benefit is shown as unknown. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Housing Benefit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much discretionary housing payment funding has been allocated, by local authority, in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Steve Webb: The Department is currently in discussions with Local Authority Associations regarding the methodology for allocating discretionary housing payment funding in 2013-14. Once this is finalised, local authorities will be notified of their individual allocation.
	Discussions regarding the allocation of this funding for 2014-15 will begin in summer 2013.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the ability of tenants in the socially rented sector, under the terms of their tenancy conditions, to take in a lodger in order to reduce a drop in their income resulting from the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The ability of tenants to take in a lodger is dependant upon the particular conditions of individual tenancy agreements. However, many local authority tenants and some housing associations have an automatic right to take in lodgers. We anticipate that many other social sector tenants will be granted such a right following a request to their landlord.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the consequences for the household insurance policies of tenants in the socially rented sector who take in a lodger in order to reduce the drop in their income through the application of the under occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: An assessment has not been undertaken. We are changing the rules in universal credit so that the income received from taking in a lodger does not reduce a claimant's benefit. This will increase the options for those who are affected by the under-occupation reduction though the Government accept that, for a variety of reasons, this solution will not be appropriate in all cases.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households expected to see their income reduced through application of the under occupancy penalty will experience a loss of income less than the net amount of additional income they could gain, after benefit withdrawal, from the rent paid by a lodger.

Steve Webb: It is not possible to determine how many households could expect to receive more income from a lodger than they will lose from the introduction of the under-occupancy deduction. However, under universal credit the income received from taking in a lodger does not reduce a claimant's benefit and the average reduction in housing benefit as a result of the application of the under-occupancy deduction is expected to be £14 a week.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which passported benefits are exempt from the benefit cap; and what spending his Department has allocated to each of those benefits in each of the next three years.

Mark Hoban: There is no prescribed list of passported benefits in the social security legislation.
	The benefits that will be included in the benefit cap on its introduction in April 2013 will be:
	Bereavement allowance
	Carer's allowance
	Child benefit
	Child tax credit
	An employment and support allowance
	Guardian's allowance
	Housing benefit
	Incapacity benefit
	Income support
	A jobseeker's allowance
	Maternity allowance
	Severe disablement allowance
	Widowed mother's allowance
	Widowed parent's allowance
	Widow's pension
	The benefits that will be included in the benefit cap for those on universal credit will be set out in the universal credit regulations which will be laid before Parliament later in the year.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value of the adjustment to savings made from the benefit cap in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16 by applying the 39-week grace period would be; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The value of the adjustment to savings made from the benefit cap in: (a) 2013-14; (b) 2014-15; and (c) 2015-16, by applying the 39-week grace period is around £20 to £25 million in each of these years.
	These figures are subject to some uncertainty because they are based on estimates of the number of people who may be eligible for the grace period and the amounts that they may lose.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people affected by the benefit cap who claim (a) bereavement allowance, (b) carer's allowance, (c) child benefit, (d) child tax credit, (e) employment and support allowance except where the support component has been awarded, (f) guardian's allowance, (g) housing benefit, (h) incapacity benefit, (i) income support, (j) jobseeker's allowance, (k) maternity allowance, (l) severe disablement allowance, (m) widowed parent's allowance and (n) widow's benefit.

Mark Hoban: Our estimates of those affected by the benefit cap show that around: 300 households will receive bereavement allowance; 5,200 will receive carer's allowance; 50,400 will receive child benefit; 47,300 will receive child tax credits; 14,200 households will receive employment and support allowance (ESA); 22,100 will receive income support; and 16,200 will receive jobseeker's allowance.
	Less than a 100 households will receive the following benefits; guardians allowance, maternity allowance, widow's benefit.
	This information is not available for those on widowed parent's allowance.
	As the benefit cap applies to housing benefit all households affected by the benefit cap (56,000) will receive this benefit.
	The figures reflect relevant policy changes, such as lone parent obligations and the migration of incapacity-related claims to ESA in the coming years—and so those on incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance are counted within the ESA figures.
	The figures presented above are consistent with the recent impact assessment published on 16 July 2012. This assumes that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme to move as many into work as possible. Therefore, please note that these figures are subject to change prior to the policy being implemented in April 2013.

Sportsgrounds: Disasters

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the purple book on stadium disaster planning was last updated.

Mark Hoban: The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 established a framework for emergency planning and response at both the local and national level. The Act defines the obligations of certain organisations, most notably the emergency services and local authorities, to prepare for various types of emergency including stadium disaster planning. Comprehensive guidance on emergency preparedness is available from the Cabinet Office at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/emergency-preparedness
	HSE's guidance HS(G) 195 ‘The Event Safety Guide’, or the ‘Purple Book’, is aimed at organisers of music and similar events to help them comply with the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 and its subsidiary regulations. This has been superseded by the HSE's new event safety web pages on the HSE website with emergency planning at musical and similar events held at stadiums. It is not the key reference document for stadium disaster planning. The Purple Book was last updated in 1999. HSE is also committed to supporting new industry produced guidance on events.

Universal Credit

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to publish his Department's assessment of errors and problems discovered as a consequence of the Real Time Information pilot for universal credit.

Mark Hoban: The department is in weekly touch with HMRC about the progress of the RTI pilot and are pleased to note that there are now over 1,850 schemes operating RTI successfully. The pilot is designed to help HMRC to test and refine RTI processes for PAYE. Information from HMRC's pilot and research will be used by DWP, in conjunction with its own research, to analyse the potential effects of employer behaviour under RTI on working universal credit claimants.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed to answer his Department's 0800 2888 777 number for contacting Atos Healthcare in relation to the work capability assessment in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date.

Mark Hoban: Staff that answer inquiries to the 0800 2888 777 helpline number are employed directly by Atos Healthcare. The number of staff employed to answer calls in each of the years requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 52 
			 2011 58 
			 2012 65

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful appellants against an Atos assessment that deemed them fit for work were subsequently reassessed by Atos within (a) three, (b) six, (c) nine and (d) 12 months.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the duration between the date of the appeal hearing for the initial work capability assessment (WCA) and the date of the first repeat WCA for claims that started between October 2008 and May 2011 (the latest available data), including actions on these claims up to May 2012.
	
		
			 Duration between initial WCA appeal hearing and first repeat assessment for claims that started between October 2008 and May 2011, including actions on these claims up to May 2012 
			 Time between initial WCA appeal hearing and first repeat WCA Number of claimants 
			 No repeat assessment recorded 32,900 
			 Unknown 1,300 
			 Less than three months 2,300 
			 Three to six months 14,400 
			 Six to nine months 24,200 
			 Nine to 12 months 12,500 
			 Greater than 12 months 9,700 
			 Total 97,500 
			 Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Hence the total does not sum exactly.

WALES

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

Stephen Crabb: The average cost to the Wales Office of processing a payment of an invoice is £5.03. The Wales Office settled 481 invoices in the period June to September 2012, of which 99% were paid electronically and 1% by cheque.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office uses mobile telephones and mobile data services supplied by Vodafone and Orange.

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office spent £7,214 on newspapers and periodicals in the last financial year.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Sequestration

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has received from applicants to the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Commercialisation Programme on the potential effect of (a) reduced funding and (b) delays in receiving funding on their ability to access EU NER 300 funding.

John Hayes: holding answer 29 October 2012
	For reasons of commercial confidentiality, I am unable to comment on any representations received from applicants in relation to a competition process that is currently ongoing.

Nuclear Power Stations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  in which areas he has assessed the appropriateness of underwriting financial risk in relation to the construction of new nuclear power plants;
	(2)  if he will consider providing assurances to prospective investors in new nuclear power plants that budget over-runs or building delays at such plants would be covered by guarantees from the public purse.

John Hayes: I want to create the conditions for developers to build new nuclear power stations, but only on the right terms. The Department is in the process of assessing the terms of contract for differences that might be offered to nuclear projects as part of the EMR Programme.
	Our focus is on delivering a fair and affordable deal for consumers that provides clear value for money, and is consistent with the Government's policy on no public subsidy for new nuclear.

Staff

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last 12 months.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change spent £2.8 million in the last 12 months with recruitment agencies. The majority of this expenditure represents payment to the individuals employed. We are unable to separately identify the element retained by the recruitment agency as fees. This varies from case to case and the Department contracts on the basis of a total hourly or daily fee.
	The Department made no fees to outplacement agencies and we use the Civil Service Transition Service to provide our redeployment support.
	£5 million was spent on staff training and development in the 12-month period ending September 2012.

Water Power: South West

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many marine energy turbines have been sunk in the sea off the south-west coast.

Gregory Barker: In 2003, Marine Current Turbine (MCT) 300 kW Seaflow device was deployed in Lynmouth and was later decommissioned in 2009. Pulse tidal was recently granted a lease agreement by the Crown Estate for a 1.2 MW tidal power device to be deployed in 2014 pending environmental studies and permitting.
	On wave energy, the Fred Olsen's Bolt Lifesaver wave energy converter was deployed in April at the Fab-Test nursery site in Falmouth.

Wind Power: Bournemouth

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received on the proposed windfarm off the Bournemouth coast; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Navitus Bay Development Ltd, the developer of the proposed project (along with other developers of projects which are subject to the provisions of the Planning Act) need to consult with interested parties both before and after an application for consent is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. At this stage of the process, any interested parties should make their views known to the developer. Interested parties can also make their views known to the Planning Inspectorate once the formal consultation on any application has started.
	As DECC Ministers will be taking the final decision on whether consent should be granted, it would not be appropriate to offer any views on the project.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make it her policy to require all cleaning contracts held by her Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Michael Penning: My Department does not hold cleaning contracts at present; rather we avail of contracts held by third parties. That said, we will support the commitments of the coalition agreement and require all cleaning contracts, to which we are a party, to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Badgers

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the size of the badger population in each county in England; what assessment he has made of trends in the badger population in each county; and what assessment he has made of the reliability of such estimates.

David Heath: We do not have estimates of the size of badger population in each county of England.
	The last national badger survey was carried out between 1994 and 1997. Overall, the survey estimated that the number of badgers in Britain had increased by 77% since the previous survey carried out between 1985 and 1988, to between 300,000 and 400,000 badgers.
	We have commissioned a two-year National Badger Survey in England and Wales to quantify any changes since the previous survey.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the numbers of badgers in the two pilot cull areas.

David Heath: I refer the hon. Member for Wakefield to my answer of 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 296W.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the most recent census of the badger population in the two badger culling pilot areas; and what account he has taken of such census information in developing plans for the culling of badgers in those areas.

David Heath: holding answer 25 October 2012
	The badger sett surveys recently carried out in the pilot areas have revealed that badger numbers in those areas are much higher than originally anticipated by the licensees, which means they would need to remove a higher number of badgers than they originally anticipated in order to meet the 70% removal rate required. The pilot culls will go ahead next summer when we are completely satisfied that all necessary arrangements are in place.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to discuss the development of bovine tuberculosis diagnostic tools with (a) his European counterparts and (b) the European Commission.

David Heath: I will continue to speak with my European counterparts and the European Commission about all aspects of bovine TB. There have already been discussions with the European Commission on the development of diagnostic tools in relation to bovine TB and, in particular, the scientific evidence needed to review the current vaccines. I will press for this ban to be lifted as quickly as the science will allow.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA has a contract with Vodafone under the Government Procurement Services framework arrangement RM526/L1 for Mobile Solutions II and a separate contract with Orange Personal Communications Ltd.
	Vodafone are the main provider for mobile phone and data services within core DEFRA. However, Orange provides a mobile phone and data service to core DEFRA where the Vodafone coverage is weak.

Planning

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many chartered town planners are employed by his Department.

Richard Benyon: This information is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Richard Benyon: Sickness absence rates are calculated over a 12-month period. The information requested on monthly absence rates could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost.
	The sickness absence rates for each grade in core DEFRA for the year to 30 June 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Grade Average working days lost due to sickness 
			 AA 8.3 
			 AO 6.6 
			 EO 4.7 
			 HEO 3.9 
			 SEO 2.5 
			 Grade 7 2.1 
			 Grade 6 3.2 
			 SCS 0.9 
			 Unknown(1) 2.9 
			 Overall 3.7 
			 (1) Staff shown as being in an unknown grade are former Regional Development Agency staff whose grade is yet to be assessed.

Wheels to Work Schemes

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support his Department provided to Wheels to Work schemes in each financial year from 2008-9 to 2011-12.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The following funding was allocated by DEFRA from the Rural Development Programme for England for Wheels to Work projects:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 0 
			 2009-10 99,788 
			 2010-11 138,462 
			 2011-12 15,000 
		
	
	The following funding was allocated from the Rural Development Programme for England for a similar transport to work project:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 31,050 
			 2011-12 10,000

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of progress in reducing the levels of corruption in Afghanistan since 2011.

Alan Duncan: Afghanistan continues to face high levels of corruption and ranks 180 out of 183 countries on Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The UK is helping the Afghan Government tackle corruption across a range of areas, including reducing the scope for misuse of public funds and supporting law enforcement. We are also helping to strengthen Afghan civil society organisations to hold the government to account.
	The UK Government welcomes the anti-corruption commitments the Government of Afghanistan made at the Tokyo development conference on 8 July 2012. These include holding those responsible for the Kabul Bank crisis to account, and recovering the lost funds. The Government of Afghanistan also committed to a more accountable and transparent mining sector, a key source of future revenue. President Karzai's Executive Order of 26 July 2012 will also help strengthen the Government's anti-corruption efforts by tackling issues of nepotism in recruitment and instructing line ministries to develop plans to reduce the scope for corruption.

Bangladesh

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the number of children of school age in Bangladesh in (a) 2007 and (b) 2012; and how many such children were not in education in each of those years;
	(2)  if she will estimate the proportion of children of school age in Bangladesh, but not in education who are girls.

Alan Duncan: According to Government of Bangladesh data, 0.6% of girls at compulsory school age (six-10 years) were not enrolled in education in 2011, the latest date for which information is available. In 2007 there were 16,771,776 children of compulsory school age; 1,472,676 of these children were not enrolled in education. Data for 2012 will be available next year.

Bangladesh

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many schools in Bangladesh receive funding from her Department that is ring-fenced for the provision of toilet blocks and clean running water.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not have a specific, ring-fenced, allocation for the provision of toilet blocks and clean running water for schools in Bangladesh. Through Bangladesh's Primary Education programme, however, during 2011 to 2016, a total of 94,893 toilet blocks will be built, with water points for hand-washing. In addition 40,000 tube wells will be drilled in school premises for drinking water.
	The total budget for the Bangladesh's Primary Education programme (2011 to 2016) is US$8.36 billion, of which DFID contributes $190 million (£UK110 million).

Bangladesh

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of recent infrastructure improvements in Bangladesh; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: A number of important investments have been made in infrastructure in Bangladesh in the last fifteen years, such as in road and rail, and the power sector. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-12 ranks Bangladesh's infrastructure competitiveness as 134 out of 144 countries; inadequate infrastructure was identified as the number one problematic factor for businesses.

Palestinians

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will take steps to prevent UK and EU aid funding to the Palestinian Authority being used to pay salaries to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Alan Duncan: UK and EU assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is provided subject to a number of safeguards. Our assistance to the PA supports a successful Middle East Peace Process by helping build Palestinian institutions and promoting economic growth, so that any future state will be stable, prosperous, well-run, and an effective partner for peace with Israel.
	As requested by the Israeli authorities the PA pays an allowance to cover the cost of food and clothing for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The PA also provides social welfare payments to the families of prisoners. We support the provision of welfare payments to innocent families who have lost a breadwinner, and we continue to encourage the PA to ensure that these payments are transparent, needs-based and affordable.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Tobacco: Smuggling

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2012, Official Report, column 1098W, on tobacco smuggling, how many people have been charged in relation to seizures made by the UK Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; how many cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecution; and how many such referrals were taken forward for prosecution.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data related to the number of people that have been charged in relation to tobacco seizures. There is also no central record of the number of referrals from the UK Border Force and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to the CPS for a charging decision and how many such referrals were taken forward for prosecution. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by a manual exercise at disproportionate cost.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Brandon Lewis: The cleaning of the Department's buildings is undertaken by its facilities management service provider, Interserve Facilities Management Ltd. As part of Interserve's contract mobilisation programme they are currently working to establish if any of the products used have been tested on animals, with the clear ambition of replacing products with suitable alternatives should any be identified. Interserve has also committed to ensure that products used conform to Government Buying Standards.

Council Housing

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what instructions he is giving to councils who do not have enough smaller properties to offer council tenants who seek to move from council dwellings with spare bedrooms in order to maintain benefit eligibility.

Mark Prisk: We have issued new statutory social housing allocations guidance for councils which highlights the importance of ensuring that under-occupying tenants are given appropriate priority for a transfer, and which encourages councils to identify and remove or revise any provisions in their allocation policy which might make it more difficult for tenants to downsize.
	If tenants wish to move to a smaller property, provisions in the Localism Act—which remove transferring tenants who are not in housing need from the allocation rules—together with the introduction of “HomeSwap” Direct, will make it easier for them to do so.
	This Department has allocated £13 million over four years (2011-15) to help councils support under-occupying tenants who wish to move, as well as funding an action team within the Chartered Institute of Housing to work with all social landlords to help them promote moves.

Repossession Orders

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps he has taken to reduce the number of home repossessions in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Mark Prisk: The Government is helping homeowners in difficulty by tackling the record deficit inherited from the last Administration to prevent a rapid increase in interest rates hitting struggling households.
	The Government is committed to working closely with lenders, debt advice agencies and local authorities to ensure that repossession is only ever a last resort and that effective help and advice for homeowners at risk of repossession is available. www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp outlines the options available to households.
	A range of Government support is in place to help homeowners at risk of repossession. Targeted support includes Support for Mortgage Interest, a DWP benefit designed to help eligible out of work households meet their monthly interest payments and the £221 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme aimed at vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession which has been improved to deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. Applications for the scheme are considered by local authorities across England as part of their duties to prevent homelessness.
	The Department of Communities and Local Government announced £20 million funding for preventing repossessions in February this year which provides additional options for local housing authorities to tackle repossessions in their local area. Coventry council received £154,734 for a Preventing Repossessions Fund which can be used to offer small interest free loans or grants to households at risk of repossession to address immediate short term financial difficulties and avoid households becoming homeless due to mortgage possession.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Apache helicopter will be able to be moved by lift below deck on the Queen Elizabeth class carrier without the need to manually fold its rotor blades.

Philip Dunne: The Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers will be able to transport an Apache helicopter with its rotors fully spread from the flight deck to the hangar and vice-versa using the aircraft lifts. Depending on the number of aircraft embarked, the rotor blades of Apache helicopters may be manually folded prior to entering the hangar to maximise storage space.

Defence Equipment

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of storage capacity for material returning from (a) theatre in Operation Herrick and (b) Germany;
	(2)  which sites are being considered for the storage of material returning from (a) theatre in Operation Herrick and (b) Germany.

Philip Dunne: Work to assess the future required size of the Ministry of Defence storage capacity is ongoing. No decisions have yet been made regarding storage of material returning from either theatre in Operation Herrick or from Germany.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of the Joint Strike Fighter his Department plans to purchase.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The overall number of Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to be purchased will not be determined before the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to purchase any Variant A Joint Strike Fighters.

Philip Dunne: The UK remains committed to the F-35B, the short take-off vertical landing variant, as it forms a key element of the UK's future Carrier Strike capability. Any possible future requirement for the conventional take-off and landing variant (F-35A) will be dependent on decisions on the future long-term mix of the UK's combat aircraft and the long-term future of the Typhoon fleet.

Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2012, Official Report, column 878W, on Libya: military intervention, what the average cost of a single Tornado GR4 sortie to Libyan air space during Operation Ellamy was from (a) RAF Marham and (b) Gioia del Colle.

Andrew Murrison: The cost of an average seven and half hour Tornado sortie from RAF Marham to Libya was approximately £37,000. While the average cost of a five and half hour Tornado sortie from Gioia Del Colle to Libya was approximately £27,000.
	These figures are calculated using standard marginal flying hour costs and rounded to the nearest thousand.

Procurement

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are taken to ensure that all contracts tendered by his Department are done so in a competitive process.

Philip Dunne: It is Ministry of Defence (MOD) policy to maximise the use of competitive tendering in order to seek best value for money. However, the MOD does use a single source, non-competitive, process in certain circumstances, for example, where exclusive rights are owned by one supplier or urgency arising from an operational crisis. The reasons for non-competitive procurement are scrutinised during the approvals process, to ensure they are justifiable and legally compliant.
	This process ensures such business cases are scrutinised to provide assurance that procurement will deliver value for money and is affordable.

PRIME MINISTER

Corruption

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister who will be the new international anti-corruption champion.

David Cameron: My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), is the international anti-corruption champion.

Diplomatic Service

Christopher Chope: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will set out the terms upon which he appointed his special envoys for (a) Gibraltar and (b) Sahel; and what his estimate is of the cost to the public purse of the functions carried out by these envoys;
	(2)  what special envoys he has appointed since May 2010; on which dates they were appointed; and, where applicable, on which dates their appointments were terminated.

David Cameron: I refer my hon. Friend to the press notice issued by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), which can be found at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?id=816116082&view=News
	I also refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement made by the former Minister for the Armed Forces, the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey), on 26 January 2011, Official Report, column 11WS. I have also appointed Michael Anderson as Special Envoy on UN Development Goals.

TRANSPORT

Aviation

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the number of flights into UK airports which have been delayed for more than three hours other than in extraordinary circumstances in each of the last five years.

Simon Burns: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) collects and publishes punctuality statistics for 10 UK airports (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted). A table showing the total number of arriving and departing flights at those airports and the number of those flights that were delayed by more than three hours has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The higher incidence of delay in 2010 will reflect the volcanic ash period and severe winter. The recent judgment provides rights to passengers whose flights are delayed on arrival by three hours, however, the enforcement body that will deal with passenger complaints is the one based in the member state where the flight departs. The CAA does not collect reasons for delays and it is not therefore possible to confirm the proportion of delays that were due to extraordinary circumstances.

Aviation: EU Action

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the financial effect on UK aviation businesses of the decision of the European Court of Justice of 23 October 2012 in Tui Travel and Others v. the Civil Aviation Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: It is not possible at this stage to assess the financial effect of the judgment on UK aviation businesses. The CJEU judgment estimates that 0.15% of EU flights are delayed by more than three hours and that this would be further reduced by extraordinary circumstances.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish all detailed valuations of the noise, landscape, visual and other environmental impacts included in each of High Speed 2's benefit-to-cost ratio calculations on each section of the proposed route between London and Birmingham.

Simon Burns: This information is already published in Annex 5 of the HS2 Appraisal of Sustainability which can be found at:
	www.dft.gov.uk/aos
	The January 2012 document “Economic Case for HS2—Value for Money Statement” may also be helpful and this is available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/topics/high-speed-rail/growth

Rail Delivery Group

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect that the short-term extension of the West Coast Main Line passenger franchise will have on (a) First Group and (b) Virgin Trains' membership of the Rail Delivery Group.

Simon Burns: The issues raised in this question are a matter for train operating companies. The Rail Delivery Group is an industry body that is led by and formed of representatives from train operating companies and other industry stakeholders.

Railways: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to his future franchising process, what estimate he has made of the demand for direct rail services between Barrow-in-Furness and (a) Manchester and (b) Manchester airport.

Simon Burns: No assessment has been made at this stage regarding the demand for direct rail services between Barrow-in-Furness and Manchester, or Barrow-in-Furness and Manchester airport. Further consideration will be given to this issue on the commencement of the rail refranchising programme, which is currently suspended for the duration of the Brown review.

Railways: Franchises

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have held with Network Rail in the last two years on Network Rail operating rail franchises.

Simon Burns: Ministers and officials have not held any meetings with Network Rail in the last two years to discuss the prospect of Network Rail operating rail franchises.

Railways: Franchises

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Network Rail can bid for rail franchises.

Simon Burns: With minor exceptions (for example the Royal Train and track maintenance vehicles), Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (the network operator) is prohibited under its licence from having interests in train operations or engaging in activities outside network management except in so far as the ORR consents. This restriction also extends to other Network Rail group companies. Network Rail would also need to comply with EU law restrictions relating to carrying out infrastructure management and train operations within the same group, for example requirements to keep certain track allocation and charging functions independent from train operations.
	These considerations do not prevent Network Rail from cooperating closely with train operators to generate efficiencies, as for example with the Wessex alliance with South West Trains. They would however make it difficult for Network Rail to bid for a franchise given the way it is currently constituted.

Railways: Nature Conservation

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what obligations his Department places on Railtrack to control vegetation clearance during the bird-breeding season.

Simon Burns: When undertaking vegetation clearance work during the bird nesting season, Network Rail is bound by the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended. The company must ensure that it does not contravene the legislation put in place to protect birds while they are nesting. This legislation does allow work to be carried out in the interest of safety.

West Coast Railway Line: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what effect the time taken to let a long-term franchise for the West Coast Mainline will have on proposals for additional services to Cumbria by open access operators.

Simon Burns: Decisions about applications for track access are dealt with by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). ORR needs to take account of all aspirations for the use of the limited amount of spare track capacity that exists on the West Coast Main Line and, to the extent that doubt now surrounds the long-term franchise position, it is reasonable to expect that ORR will need to defer its adjudication on the allocation of the spare track capacity, at least until after the Brown review.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the average cost to her Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period her Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

Hugh Robertson: The average cost of processing the payment of an invoice for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, was £12.18. The proportion paid electronically during this period (including by Government Procurement Card) was 99%, and by cheque, was 1%.

Broadband

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport why her Department's programme of funding to deliver high speed broadband and wireless connectivity stipulates that it must be spent over a contiguous area; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Super-Connected Cities Initiative does not stipulate that funding must be spent over a contiguous area, since the funding complements existing and planned commercial deployments, which may make up much of the area. The aim of achieving large contiguous areas of ultrafast connectivity in our cities is to make the areas attractive for the deployment of new business and public sector applications and services, and to avoid a ‘post code lottery’ in provision.

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many times private companies have had to re-submit bids to local authorities in respect of the roll-out of superfast broadband.

Edward Vaizey: There have been two occasions on which bids for superfast broadband projects have had to be resubmitted. These were for the projects in Cumbria and the Highlands and Islands.

Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport for what reasons superfast broadband development is being supported through the Urban Broadband Fund in areas where a superfast broadband service is already available.

Edward Vaizey: Cities with funding from the Urban Broadband Fund are seeking to provide a step change in broadband provision to deliver capability which is not currently available. Projects will need to be consistent with EU state aid requirements.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many staff (a) are currently seconded from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to local authorities and (b) have previously been seconded from BDUK to local authorities.

Edward Vaizey: No BDUK staff are, or have been, seconded to local authorities.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many external consultants have been employed by Broadband Delivery UK since May 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The total number of external consultants (including interims) employed on either a full-time, or part-time basis, by Broadband Delivery UK, since May 2010, is approximately 70.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many members of her Department's staff work for Broadband Delivery UK.

Edward Vaizey: The number of staff from this Department, currently working for BDUK, is 23.

Local Press

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps the Government plans to take to address the increasing threat to the viability of local newspapers.

Edward Vaizey: This Government recognises the importance of local newspapers to the very fabric of our society.
	We are concerned about the effect that decreased advertising revenues has had on local newspapers. That is why last year we removed local cross media ownership rules to enable local media businesses to move freely from platform to platform, ensuring the survival and success of their sector. In addition, on 25 May 2012, in my capacity as Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, I hosted a question and answer session for MPs on the issue of local newspapers, attended by Ashley Highfield, chief executive of Johnston Press.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to her Department.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport uses both Vodafone and O2 for mobile phones and mobile data services.

Olympic Games 2012: Marketing

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of the No Marketing Rights Protocol on companies involved in delivering the London 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26 October 2012, Official Report, column 1073W.

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent £557.94 on newspapers, and £7,078.67 on periodicals and trade publications, between October 2011 and the end of September 2012.

Tourism: Newton Abbot

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps (a) Visit Britain and (b) Visit England are taking to promote tourism in Newton Abbot constituency.

Hugh Robertson: Devon and Newton Abbot are an important part of our tourism offer. Although VisitEngland, our national tourism board, does not promote at the local level, it does engage in national promotions and public relations work, which benefits such locations as Devon. In fact, Devon is one of the highest value destinations in terms of visitor spend outside London. VisitEngland is currently developing four thematic marketing campaigns based on city, coast, countryside and heritage, and Devon embodies all four.
	While there is no single Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Devon, VisitEngland staff do meet regularly with the individual destination organisations and local authorities, that promote destinations within the county.
	VisitBritain is investing in a major international promotional campaign in key overseas markets, and over the next four years, this is expected to deliver 4.6 million extra visitors, £2.27 billion in extra visitor spend, and over 50,000 job opportunities across the whole nation. This campaign will take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity afforded by the unique events of 2012, to maximise the industry's potential and ensure that we create a sustained legacy for tourism. Destinations all over the UK, including those in Devon, stand to benefit from these initiatives.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Market Share: Growing Economies

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made in promoting the expansion of UK market share in the fastest-growing economies; and if he will make a statement.

William Hague: We are determined to expand Britain's market share in the fastest-growing economies. We are opening up to 19 new Posts; redeploying 300 staff to 20 countries; and we are intensifying our relations with these economies in a way that is long overdue.

Pakistan

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to improve the UK’s relationship with Pakistan.

William Hague: The past year has seen an increase in bilateral trade between Britain and Pakistan, discussions on political reconciliation in Afghanistan, agreement on counter terrorism co-operation and projects to improve school facilities, teacher recruitment and attendance in Pakistan. The Prime Minister hosted his Pakistani counterpart here in May and I visited Pakistan in June.

Bahrain

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of human rights in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and I discussed human rights with the Crown Prince of Bahrain on 12 October. We support the reforms already under way and are offering our assistance but we are clear that more rapid progress needs to be made.

Single Market

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on protecting the integrity of the single market.

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on protecting the integrity of the single market.

David Lidington: We regularly discuss the single market with our EU counterparts.
	It is Europe’s greatest asset and it is vital that we protect its integrity and take decisive steps to make it work better.

Syria

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the conflict in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate. We support UN—Arab League Joint Special Representative Brahimi’s efforts to bring about a ceasefire. This must be accompanied by a genuine commitment from the Syrian regime to work with Brahimi to find a sustainable end to the violence in Syria.

Afghanistan

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of progress in reducing opium production in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We are awaiting the findings of the full 2012 report. However, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its last opium risk assessment in April, predicting no increase in cultivation this year in the two provinces which produce the vast majority of Afghanistan's opium.
	The UNODC's most recent Afghan Opium Survey, published in October 2011, reported that opium poppy cultivation rose nationally by 7% in 2011 compared to 2010. Cultivation fell by 3% in Helmand Province, the most prolific opium producing province in Afghanistan, which was the third successive annual decrease in cultivation there.
	It is difficult to assess the overall levels of progress, but the UK. remains committed to supporting the Afghan Government to make progress on its National Drug Control Strategy. Together with international partners, the UK is pursuing a comprehensive approach to tackling the Afghan drugs trade which addresses security, economic and rural development, as well as law enforcement. Working with international and regional partners, for example through the Paris Pact and the Istanbul Process, we are seeking to improve cooperation on tackling the drugs trade, the trade in precursor chemicals, target illegal financial flows and reduce demand in the region and worldwide.

Arms Trade: Treaties

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his UN counterparts on the text of the Arms Trade treaty.

Alistair Burt: Ministers and officials regularly raise the Arms Trade treaty in bilateral and multilateral meetings. The Government has co-authored a UN resolution to convene a conference in March to finalise the text and will continue to lead international efforts to secure a strong and effective treaty which attracts the widest possible support.

Bangladesh

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has made to the government of Bangladesh on the disappearance of Mr Illias Ali.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned about the disappearance of Mr Ilias Ali and his driver, Ansar Ali, and continue to urge the Government of Bangladesh to fully investigate any reports of disappearances. The Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi, raised the matter when she spoke with the Bangladesh Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Dipu Moni, on 5 October.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised this matter with the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, in July. I visited Bangladesh in May, and raised Mr Ali's disappearance with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia.
	Our high commission in Dhaka has made several representations, most recently in October, to the authorities on this matter and has been assured that every effort continues to be made to establish the circumstances of Mr Ali's disappearance and to locate him.
	We will continue to urge the Bangladeshi authorities to do all they can to locate Mr Ali and to investigate the circumstances of his disappearance.

Belarus

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of restrictive measures against the Lukashenko regime in Belarus.

David Lidington: Although it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of sanctions against an opaque regime like Belarus, we judge that they have had some effect. The regime has released over 30 political prisoners since sanctions were re-imposed in January 2011, including two in April and one in September. We judge further that the travel ban and asset freezes are personally embarrassing to individuals, damage Belarus’ image, and have had a constraining effect by encouraging others in similar roles and positions to respect human rights and the rule of law. But 10 political prisoners remain in jail. We therefore continue to look at alternative means of promoting reform in Belarus, including support to civil society, alongside the use of sanctions.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 740W, on British Indian Ocean Territory, which other officials in his Department are part of the Government of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT); and whether the Commissioner and Administrator of BIOT, as employees of his Department, are answerable to him.

Mark Simmonds: In addition to the Commissioner and the Administrator, the following officials, who are also employees of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are members of the Government of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT):
	Deputy Commissioner;
	Deputy Administrator; and
	Assistant Administrator.
	The Commissioner and Administrator of BIOT are not answerable to the Secretary of State in their capacity as employees of his Department, but as part of the BIOT Government answerable to Her Majesty the Queen, acting through her Secretary of State. Of course, the Commissioner and Administrator are also the Director of Overseas Territories Directorate and the Head of BIOT Section respectively, and answer to the Secretary of State in those capacities as employees of his Department.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 740W, on British Indian Ocean Territory, if he will place in the Library copies of all Orders in Council, Ordinances and subsidiary legislation for British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: I will arrange for a compact disc covering Orders in Council. Ordinances and subsidiary legislation for the British Indian Ocean Territory to be placed in the Library of the House.

Diplomatic Bags

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many investigations of inappropriate use of diplomatic bags his Department has undertaken since 1982.

David Lidington: The diplomatic bag is governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and we maintain strict control over its use. There are long-established rules on prohibited items, and we would regard any misuse of the bag as a serious matter. We would investigate fully any suggestion of misuse.
	A comprehensive search of all relevant information from 1982 could be achieved only at disproportionate cost. If anyone shares with us specific concerns or information related to possible misuse of the diplomatic bag, we would carry out an investigation.

EU Budget

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with his EU counterparts on the multiannual financial framework.

David Lidington: I refer my hon. Friend to my response to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 21W.

EU Staff

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 707, how many UK citizens are currently employed by the European Commission (EC); what that figure is as a proportion of all EC employees; what the equivalent figures were in October 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Commission's latest figures, from 1 October, show that of the Commission's 23,794 staff, 4.7% are British—a total of 1,116 people.
	In October 2010, of 25,090 Commission staff, 5% were British—a total of 1,256 people.
	This drop in the number of British officials, a result of the retirements of the large tranche of staff taken on in 1973, on British accession to the EU, is exactly what this Government has predicted and is why we are taking action to remedy this potentially damaging situation.
	The action we have taken has, in just two years from 2010-12, resulted in a 30% increase in British applicants to the main EU graduate recruitment. But this is a serious, long-term problem, and we must sustain and increase these efforts if we are to rectify this situation. We will continue to monitor and promote all options, including opportunities for permanent and temporary staff, and seconded UK civil servants.

Trade Promotion

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many events have been held at British embassies or consulates to promote Scottish businesses in the last three years; and which businesses were represented at such events. [Official Report, 5 November 2012, Vol. 552, c. 3MC.]

Hugo Swire: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) officials meet UK businesses seeking to export regularly. These interactions occur in a wide variety of circumstances, and it is therefore not possible to assess accurately the total number of meetings that have taken place over the past three years.
	Our Charter for Business sets out how the FCO supports UK business overseas and how the FCO is working to help deliver success for the UK's economy. We are supporting and promoting businesses across the UK, and do not differentiate on where they are based. UKTI also has a vital role to play in supporting British business. UKTI helped 25,450 businesses in 2011-12, 90% of them SMEs. UKTI trade support generated over £30 billion of additional sales for its clients—this support helped firms create 36,400 new jobs and secure a further 68,500.
	British companies can make full use of UKTI's trade services, including the resources provided by UKTI offices overseas. Additionally, where appropriate, the Scottish Government's trade and investment arm, Scottish Development International, is also available.
	As examples, in 2011-12:
	172 grants were provided to Scottish firms through support under UKTI's Tradeshow Access programme.
	310 reports were commissioned on behalf of Scottish firms through overseas posts under UKTI's Overseas Market Introduction Services.
	Three research projects were offered to Scottish firms under UKTI's Export Marketing Research scheme.
	Four Scottish missions to India, Brazil, Qatar and China (a total of 39 companies) were supported under UKTI's Market Visit Support programme.
	Our diplomatic, consular and UKTI network is one of the largest and most respected in the world, with around 270 diplomatic posts in 170 countries, employing 14,000 staff. This delivers real benefits to Scottish people and businesses at home and overseas.

UK Market Share

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made in promoting the expansion of UK market share in the fastest-growing economies; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: We are determined to increase exports and expand Britain’s market share in the fastest- growing economies. We are opening up to 19 new posts; redeploying 300 staff in 20 countries and devoting £4.5 million in programme funds to support our objectives.
	UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the joint FCO-BIS trade promotion department, is concentrating on 20 emerging and high growth markets including Brazil, Russia, India and China, and it is increasing the proportion of its global resource committed to these markets from 40% to 50%. UK exports to these markets are growing strongly. For example, between 2010 and 2011, exports to Brazil were up by 18%; to Russia, by 37.9%; to India, by 34.3%; and to China, by 21.3%. In total, exports of goods and services to the BRIC nations alone increased by 27.6% over this period, from £25 billion in 2010 to £32 billion in 2011.
	54% of companies supported by UKTI are already in at least one of these 20 priority markets, with a further 32% reporting they are likely to enter one of these markets in the next two years, and we are on target to achieve a doubling of exports to almost all of these priority markets by 2015.
	We are also making a major new effort across government to engage with business and government leaders, to promote the expansion of market share in these markets. We raise awareness among UK businesses of the opportunities available, through outreach activity. We tackle the barriers to success, campaigning on our most important commercial priorities, and moving resources to these fast-growing economies to respond to business demand. Practical on the ground initiatives include the UKTI-directed Asia Task Force which has run 36 events since 2009, attracting almost 4,000 business people—a quarter of whom were not at the time exporting to Asia.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Armed Conflict: Anniversaries

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance she has issued to police authorities on the policing of Remembrance services in 2012.

Damian Green: The policing of Remembrance services is an operational matter for the police.

Asylum

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted asylum or humanitarian protection by the UK in the third quarter of 2012 following a previously unsuccessful claim and (a) forcible removal or (b) voluntary return from the UK, by nationality.

Mark Harper: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The data requested is not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols.
	However, data on the number of applications granted asylum and humanitarian protection is published on an annual and quarterly basis. Latest figures are available in Table “as.01” and “as.01.q” of the release Immigration Statistics, April to June 2012 Second edition, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q2-2012/

Asylum

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to abolish the Case Assurance and Audit Unit in April 2013; and what steps she plans to take to deal with outstanding cases.

Mark Harper: As stated by Rob Whiteman at the Home Affairs Select Committee on 18 September 2012 the Controlled Archive will be closed by the end of December this year.
	Following the closure of the Controlled Archive, the work of the Case Assurance and Audit Unit will be reviewed, all remaining live cases will be absorbed into the Complex Casework Directorate which is currently being developed by the UK Border Agency.

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken by her Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

James Brokenshire: The average time that the Home Department has taken to settle invoices with external contractors is detailed in the table:
	
		
			 Financial year Average days to settle 
			 2010-11 7.7 
			 2011-11 6.4 
			 2012-13 5.3

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to require all cleaning contracts held with her Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not generally contract directly for cleaning services, but procures them through wider facilities management (FM). Typically contracts between the Home Office and FM contracts stipulate that the suppliers should consider environmentally preferable products and materials. Our key suppliers have confirmed that they only use cleaning products or ingredients tested on animals if required to meet legal requirements. Consultations with interested parties on the implementation of the coalition's agreement to end the use of animals in the testing of household products are continuing.

Cybercrime

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral discussions she has had with her international counterparts on cybercrime.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Deportation: Offenders

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign criminals needed an escort on a flight between January (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Mark Harper: The number of foreign national offenders who needed an escort when removed from the UK is not available from published statistics and is not collated centrally. The information could be obtained by examination of individual case files only at disproportionate cost.
	The UK Border Agency assesses the need for escorts according to the individual circumstances of the case. The majority of individuals removed from the UK do not require escorts due to their level of compliance with the removal process.

Disasters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the people who attended COBR meetings in the last year had completed a course at the National Emergency Planning Centre.

James Brokenshire: We do not hold this information. We do not maintain a register of courses completed by people attending COBR.

Drugs: Crime

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition of a drug dealer is used in (a) her Department and (b) its associated public bodies.

Jeremy Browne: holding answer 29 October 2012
	Although no one definition of 'drug dealer' is used routinely by the Home Office or its associated public bodies, the Secretary of State considers that drug dealing is a form of drug ‘supply’. Statutory provisions relating to drug supply are found in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and connected secondary legislation. Of most relevance are Sections 4 and 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which provide for the restriction of the production, supply, and possession with intent to supply of controlled drugs.

Drugs: Misuse

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new psychoactive substances have been subject to a temporary banning order to date.

Jeremy Browne: holding answer 15 October 2012
	The Government placed methoxetamine under a temporary class drug order in the UK on 5 April 2012, following consultation with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Methoxetamine is the first and only temporary class drug in the UK so far.

Entry Clearances: Balkans

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to monitor the effects of visa liberalisation for Western Balkan countries; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The abuse that followed Schengen visa liberalisation with the Western Balkans in 2009 and 2010 remains an issue of great concern to the UK. The UK continues to monitor the impact of the visa liberalisation agreements, and to support the measures introduced by member states to combat abuse; which is notably unfounded asylum claims and illegal immigration.
	The United Kingdom will not adopt or implement any of the changes that followed the EU decision on visa liberalisation with the Western Balkans.

Immigration Controls

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason she changed the immigration rule on settlement of overseas nationals from 14 years to 20 years.

Mark Harper: The 14-year long residence rule allowed those who did not have leave to remain in the UK but who had nevertheless been continuously resident here for 14 years to apply for settlement. This rule was deleted on 9 July 2012 because it is not appropriate that illegal migrants should be able to gain immediate settlement upon applying for it, whereas migrants who have followed the immigration rules will have served a probationary period.
	The route to settlement after 14 years' continuous residence has been replaced by a new route for those wishing to make an application for leave to remain in the UK on the basis of the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under the new Immigration Rules, at least 20 years' continuous residence in the UK, lawfully or unlawfully, will generally be required before a person can apply to start a 10-year route to settlement in the UK on the basis of the Article 8 right to respect for private life.

Immigration Controls

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the introduction of exit checks at airports.

Mark Harper: The Government has committed to the reintroduction of exit checks by March 2015. We are currently exploring options around how future exit checks may operate, and how the e-Borders system can support this.
	e-Borders enables us to target the most harmful individuals and supports our ability to undertake effective exit checks as passengers leave the UK. The system is already screening electronically over 60% of outgoing passenger and crew movements, and we are committed to further enhancing its capabilities.

Immigration Controls

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 100W, on immigration controls, what estimate she has made of the number of people required to be employed at the clearance process at UK airports to scan each type of passport.

Mark Harper: Border Force operates a flexible workforce model based around multi-skilled officers who operate in different locations. The duties of Border Force officers can range between the clearance of EU or non EU passengers at the UK border to the detection of goods at UK ports depending on expected demand. No estimate has been made of the number of people required to be employed at the clearance process at UK airports to scan each type of passport.

Metropolitan Police

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in each basic command unit of the Metropolitan Police force on 31 March (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Damian Green: Figures were collected by the Home Office for the number of police officers in each London borough of the Metropolitan Police Service on 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011 and are given in the following table. Figures at London borough level ceased to be collected from 2011-12.
	
		
			 Number of police officers in each London borough of the Metropolitan Police force on 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011 (1,2) 
			  31 March 2010 31 March 2011 
			 Barking and Dagenham 448 443 
			 Barnet 596 585 
			 Bexley 406 400 
			 Brent 712 682 
			 Bromley 524 511 
			 Camden 889 831 
			 City of Westminster 1,656 1,586 
			 Croydon 755 736 
			 Ealing 728 697 
			 Enfield 601 580 
			 Greenwich 711 669 
			 Hackney 784 771 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 600 574 
			 Haringey 734 708 
			 Harrow 404 392 
			 Havering 395 387 
			 Heathrow 461 435 
			 Hillingdon 526 540 
			 Hounslow 540 522 
			 Islington 719 713 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 579 565 
			 Kingston upon Thames 337 321 
			 Lambeth 1,042 1,004 
			 Lewisham 691 657 
			 Merton 396 392 
			 Newham 826 805 
			 Redbridge 502 486 
			 Richmond upon Thames 335 307 
			 Southwark 964 933 
			 Sutton 356 344 
		
	
	
		
			 Tower Hamlets 829 793 
			 Waltham Forest 578 556 
			 Wandsworth 619 608 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Organised Crime

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of crime related to gang activity in (a) Coventry local authority area, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Jeremy Browne: The Secretary of State has not made an assessment of the level of crime related to gang activity in Coventry, West Midlands or England. This is an operational matter for the West Midlands police and other local partners. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has conducted an exercise to map gangs and gang violence in selected forces across the country to provide for the first time a national picture based on a single definition and approach.

Public Order: Arrests

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been arrested or charged with an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 since 14 January 2012.

Damian Green: The Home Office has made no estimate of the number of arrests or charges for these offences.
	Data on arrests are reported to the Home Office on the basis of aggregated offence groupings, for example violence against the person and sexual offences. From these centrally reported groupings, it is not possible to separately identify arrests for specific offences.
	Data on charges are not held centrally by the Home Office.

Redundancy

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The Home Department spent £2.8 million on recruitment agency fees between 1 October 2011 and 30 September 2012.
	The Home Department does not hold contracts with outplacement agencies for services for displaced or redundant staff.
	The Home Department, inclusive of its executive agencies, spent £14.3 million on staff training for the financial year 2011-12.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days on average her Department's staff in each pay grade were absent from work due to ill health in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: Table l includes the average working days lost to sickness absence for each pay grade in the Home Department in the year 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012. Figures include Home Office Headquarters as well as the Department's Executive Agencies—United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, Criminal Records Bureau and National Fraud Authority.
	
		
			 Table 1: Average working days lost by grade October 2011 to September 2012 
			 Grade Average working days lost (days) (1) 
			 AA 10.35 
			 AO 9.76 
			 EO 8.04 
			 HEO 5.67 
			 SEO 4.93 
			 Grade 7 3.91 
			 Grade 6 3.01 
			 SCS 2.84 
			 Total 7.68 
			 (1) Figures given are based on paid civil servants only and include current employees and those who left the Home Office during the period, in line with Cabinet Office reporting guidelines. Figures include Home Office Headquarters, the United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, Criminal Records Bureau and National Fraud Authority. Note: Prior to February 2011 responses to requests for information relating to the "Home Department" included information for headquarters staff only—Executive Agencies were excluded from reported figures. Since February 2011 the Department has streamlined its reporting practices and departmental figures now include both Headquarters and all Executive Agencies. This means that it is not possible to make a direct comparison. Extract Date: 1 October 2012 (Figures based on period from 1 October 2011 to 31 September 2012). Source: Permanent Secretaries Management Group Cabinet Office return, Quarter 3 2012

UK Border Agency

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the UK Border Agency's target is for the time taken to process postal applications by Romanian and Bulgarian nationals for registration certificates and accession worker cards; and what the average time taken is.

Mark Harper: holding answer 29 October 2012
	For 2012-13, the UK Border Agency's target for processing postal applications by Romanian and Bulgarian nationals for registration certificates and accession worker cards is to decide 99% of applications within six months. For the period April to June 2012, the latest period for which published data is available, 98% of Romanian and Bulgarian applications were decided within six months of being registered on the UK Border Agency database. The UK Border Agency does not maintain any published data in respect of the average length of time it takes to process a postal Romanian and Bulgarian application.

Work Permits: Shipping

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2012, Official Report, column 670W, on work permits, whether a vessel working on routes between (a) UK ports and the Channel Islands and (b) UK ports and France is classed as working wholly or largely within UK waters;
	(2)  whether domestic work permit legislation applies to a non-EEA seafarer taking up work on a vessel flying a flag of convenience working on routes between (a) UK ports and the Channel Islands and (b) UK ports and France.

Mark Harper: Work permits are not required by non-European economic area crew members of vessels working routes between UK ports and Channel Island ports, or between UK ports and French ports, irrespective of the flags under which the vessels are operating. Such seamen are not classed as working wholly or largely within UK waters.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Billing

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward plans to speed up payment owed to small- and medium-sized enterprises by large companies; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government are determined to do everything it can to help businesses manage cash flow and to transform the culture of late payment.
	We are working with industry to encourage their members to sign up to the prompt payment code. We have also been working with business representatives on a variety of ways to help businesses manage cash flow and transform the culture of late payment, including through more efficient payment processes.
	To ensure that the benefits of prompt payment by Government to its main contractors benefits smaller businesses further down the supply chain, all Departments have included a clause in their contracts that requires main contractors to pay their suppliers within 30 days.
	The Government are also helping small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) access affordable working capital through the Prime Minister's Supply Chain Finance Partnership with many of the largest UK businesses, and through the £100 million small business tranche of the Business Finance Partnership.

Business: Billing

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many firms signed up to the prompt payment code in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012 to date, by size of business.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The Prompt Payment Code is administered on a day-to-day basis by the Institute of Credit Management; they have provided the following annual breakdown of new signatories:
	2009: 683 new signatories (first year of the Prompt Payment Code)
	2010: 295 new signatories (total number of signatories: 978)
	2011: 89 new signatories (total number of signatories: 1,067)
	2012: 115 new signatories (to 24 October; total number of signatories: 1,182).
	The ICM does not collect details of the size of businesses when companies apply to sign up to the Prompt Payment Code.
	The Government fully support the Prompt Payment Code. I am considering further measures to encourage businesses to sign up.

Business: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total cost to the public purse of the Growth Accelerator scheme has been since its launch.

Michael Fallon: The Growth Accelerator programme was launched on 23 May; the cost of the contract to the public purse since signature in January is £23,909,200 inc VAT.

Business: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 630W, on the Growth Accelerator Service, if he will provide a list, by region, of (a) those firms currently taking part in the growth accelerator programme, (b) those firms not found to be suitable and (c) those firms still in the process of being assessed for the programme and located by region.

Michael Fallon: The numbers of companies involved in the Growth Accelerator programme by area, as of 26 October, is set out in the following table. Although Growth Accelerator is delivered on a national basis, there is lead contractor in each of four different areas of England; we have therefore set out the data requested against these delivery areas.
	
		
			 Area Lead contractor Currently taking part Not found to be suitable Still being assessed 
			 London and Hertfordshire Grant Thornton 171 130 296 
			 Southwest and Southeast Oxford Innovation 308 113 363 
			 Midlands Pera 396 122 373 
			 North Winning Pitch 376 65 441 
			  Total 1251 430 1473 
		
	
	In addition to this, there are a further 828 companies who have been judge suitable for Growth Accelerator but who are not yet taking part in the programme (some of these may still chose not to join it).

Business: Loans

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the progress made by banks to deliver on the Business Finance Taskforce pledge of October 2010 (a) to enhance the cross-industry lending dataset by broadening the statistics on lending available for wider bands of business activity, (b) on lending to deprived areas and (c) on national and regional data on the provision of bank support to business start-ups.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The British Bankers' Association (BBA) website now hosts an enhanced industry dataset with lending broken down by region and sector. The most recent data were published on 19 October 2012 at:
	http://www.bba.org.uk/statistics/small-business
	The BBA website also provides data on lending to deprived areas up to 2010. Following the Taskforce agreement the BBA committed to an updated and more consistent dataset, and the publication of post-code level data, which will allow comparison with a variety of deprivation indices. The precision of these data make their disclosure commercially sensitive and so their publication schedule will be annual, commencing later this year.
	High street banks provide information on start-up numbers broken down by various demographics to a commercial data service BankSearch Consultancy:
	http://www.banksearch-consultancy.com

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Jo Swinson: The Department outsources its cleaning contract as part of a Total Facilities Management package using a Government Procurement Framework which promotes best practice.
	The supplier has confirmed that the cleaning products used on the contract have not been tested on animals.

Employee Ownership Scheme

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the employee ownership scheme announced on 8 October 2012, what guidance he expects existing employees in firms will receive when deciding whether or not to move to an employee owner contract; and what steps he will take to ensure such guidance is offered.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 19 October 2012
	We are currently consulting on how the scheme will be implemented and how it will work in practice. We are seeking views on the level of advice and guidance that individuals and companies might need to be fully aware of the implications of taking on employee owner status. The consultation closes on 8 November.

Employee Ownership Scheme

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of how many (a) businesses and (b) employees will participate in the employee ownership scheme announced on 8 October 2012.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 19 October 2012
	We are currently consulting on how the scheme will be implemented and how it will work in practice. The consultation closes on 8 November and the responses to the consultation will inform the scheme's design.
	Until this process is finished we are unable to provide an estimate of how many businesses and employees will participate in the scheme.

Employee Ownership Scheme

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the employee ownership scheme announced on 8 October 2012, what estimate he has made of the (a) proportion and (b) total number of employees making use of the scheme who are expected to make a capital gain over and above the Annual Exempt Amount.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 19 October 2012
	We are currently consulting on how the scheme will be implemented and how it will work in practice. The consultation closes on 8 November and the responses to the consultation will inform the scheme's design.
	Until this process is finished we are unable to provide an estimate of the proportion and total number of employees making use of the scheme, who are expected to make a capital gain over and above the Annual Exempt Amount.

Employment: Advisory Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what access routes are available to provide advice regarding employment rights and employment law.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 22 October 2012
	Guidance on employment rights and law is provided online on the single government website—GOV.UK:
	www.gov.uk
	The Pay and Work Rights helpline provides advice and guidance on employment rights and law to everyone and is contactable by telephone and online inquiry form.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sponsors The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) which provides guidance, best practice and advice on employment rights and law to employers and workers through its helpline. The helpline provides employers, employees and their representatives with advice designed to help them avoid or resolve disputes in the workplace.

Green Investment Bank

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has plans to privatise the Green Investment Bank once it is operational; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Having recently obtained state aid approval from the European Commission, the UK Green Investment Bank will become fully operational soon. The Government have no plans to privatise the bank.

Nuclear Power

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the existence of any skills gaps in relation to future expansion of civil nuclear power; and what plans he has to address such gaps.

Matthew Hancock: Working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change we have established the Nuclear Energy Skills Alliance (NESA). This comprises two key Sector Skills Councils Cogent and Semta and two Industry Training Boards, the Construction Industry Training Board and the Engineering Construction Training Board. NESA is chaired by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN). Its remit is to identify the current and future skills needs to support the nuclear programme in the UK and to work in collaboration to provide solutions which will maximise opportunities for job creation. A key task for NESA will be to work with operators delivering new nuclear capacity to provide a model of the likely future demand for skills, a first iteration of which will be available in early 2013.
	In advance of that we are taking action to tackle known skills issues. Through the Growth and Innovation Fund the Government is supporting NSAN to support growth in the sector through the development of a National Nuclear Gateway to increase the pool of skilled resource available in the sector. The first round of the of the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot has approved, in principal, funding for Doosan to develop high integrity welders and to Laing O'Rourke to support activity, including work with Bridgewater and Gateshead colleges, to train construction supervisors and steel fixers for the nuclear programme. In addition, a bid from the University of Sheffield for the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre has been selected for access to the Regional Growth Fund. The project includes a significant nuclear supplier training and development programme.

Overseas Trade: China

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his answer of 11 September 2012, Official Report, column 213W, on India and China, how many of the full-time equivalent staff employed in China are directly engaged in delivering trade between China and Northern Ireland.

Michael Fallon: There are 97 full-time equivalent UKTI staff in China who deal with trade and investment. These staff handle trade and investment related issues relating to all parts of the UK including Northern Ireland. There is no specific allocation of staff to any one part of the UK. They do however co-operate closely with Invest Northern Ireland both in market as well as in the UK.

Post Offices

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to expand the range of Government services available at post offices in England.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 107W. This Department has made a significant financial commitment of £1.34 billion over the current spending period to sustain and modernise the Post Office network, helping to ensure it can meet the future requirements of its customers, and has made an additional commitment that there will be no programme of closures.
	Alongside these commitments, Post Office Ltd has set out its ambition to provide more services on behalf of central and local government. Recognising that the company operates commercially at arm's length from Government, we have been absolutely clear that we support Post Office Ltd in their ambition. The Department or Agency responsible for a particular service will decide how best to deliver that service and Government must, of course, procure its services from other providers in line with EU procurement regulations.
	Over the last year Post Office Ltd has won a number of competitive contracts including the collection of digital data for UK Borders Agency Biometric Residence Permits and has also signed deals with Westminster City and Hammersmith and Fulham councils to allow residents to pay for council services at their local post office. Post Office Ltd is continuing to refine and develop its service offering to compete for more business in the future. The hon. Member will be interested to note that during 2011-12, Post Office Ltd's revenue from Government services grew for the first time in many years.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants from his Department and its predecessors undertook secondments to companies in the UK in each year since 2005.

Jo Swinson: The following table shows secondments to all organisations undertaken by civil servants from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessors since 2005.
	
		
			 BIS (and its predecessors) staff on secondment out of the Department 2005-September 2012 
			 Where to Start date End date 
			 UNIDROIT 3 January 2005 17 March 2006 
			 Global Training and Education Partnership 17 January 2005 16 January 2006 
			 Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group 31 January 2005 31 January 2007 
			 Fire Industry Confederation 1 March 2005 28 February 2006 
			 SEEDA 9 March 2005 31 August 2006 
			 Competition Commission 4 April 2005 3 April 2007 
			 Building Research Establishment 13 April 2005 31 March 2008 
			 Royal Household 3 May 2005 2 May 2007 
			 AMEC 9 May 2005 5 May 2006 
			 SEEDA 20 June 2005 19 June 2007 
			 Palace of Westminster 20 June 2005 31 January 2006 
			 Association of British Healthcare Industries 1 July 2005 30 June 2007 
			 Sector Skills Development Agency 4 July 2005 31 March 2006 
			 Rolls Royce 4 July 2005 3 January 2006 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 1 September 2005 30 November 2007 
			 Industry Leadership Team 3 October 2005 3 May 2007 
			 International Financial Service 4 November 2005 3 May 2006 
			 Optimum-web Ltd 23 January 2006 31 March2007 
			 Cable and Wireless 30 January 2006 31 July 2007 
			 SETNET 6 March 2006 28 February 2008 
			 London Development Agency 13 March 2006 12 March 2007 
			 UKAS 29 May 2006 31 March 2008 
			 Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry 26 June 2006 31 December 2006 
			 National Policing Improvement Agency 1 April 2011 31 December 2012 
			 Unknown 28 February 2011 18 October 2011 
			 Unknown 28 February 2011 1 September 2011 
			 Unknown 24 July 2011 25 July 2012 
			 DSTL 23 August 2011 31 March 2012 
			 EADS Astrium 31 August 2011 1 January 2013 
			 Tesco 1 February 2011 1 November 2011 
			 Scottish Executive 4 July 2011 30 May 2013 
			 Unknown 6 December 2010 17 September 2011 
			 Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council 25 March 2012 1 November 2012 
			 AEA Technology 31 March 2012 16 October 2012 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department 7 February 2012 8 February 2014 
			 Ofcom 14 June 2012 12 December 2014 
			 Westminster City Council 13 March 2012 1 November 2012 
			 Unknown 18 January 2012 10 September 2012 
			 Unknown 18 January 2012 10 September 2012 
			 Unknown 18 January 2012 26 October 2012 
			 European Commission 9 October 2011 2 October 2012 
			 LOCOG 18 January 2012 11 September 2012 
			 MRC 18 January 2012 26 October 2012 
			 FTI Consulting 30 April 2012 10 January 2014 
		
	
	
		
			 EBRD 30 April 2012 19 July 2012 
			 Prince's Trust 30 April 2012 1 September 2012 
			 Higher Ed Funding Council for England 30 April 2012 31 July 2013 
			 BBC 8 March 2012 25 July 2012 
			 Scottish Executive 30 April 2012 30 May 2013 
			 Technology Strategy Board 30 April 2012 4 October 2013 
			 National Audit Office 30 April 2012 1 November 2013 
			 PA Consulting 30 April 2012 28 February 2014 
			 European Commission 24 June 12 7 July 12 
			 Leeds County Council 9 July 2012 8 July 2014 
			 DOH/Monitor 15 July 2012 12 July 2013 
			 European Union 31 August 2012 1 September 2014 
			 LOCOG 2 September 2012 3 September 2013 
		
	
	Where the location is shown as 'unknown' this is because the relevant details have not been added to the HR system in all cases. The information will be held with the individual business units but to obtain this we would need to identify and contact each line manager. This would involve disproportionate cost.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what mechanisms secondments to business and industry from his Department are arranged.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) encourages staff to undertake secondments in order to broaden their experience and enhance their skills. Secondments may be arranged by an individual on completion of a short business case to be approved by a senior manager, or they may arise as a result of a request from a company. Where a company requests a secondee, BIS will advertise the opportunity to staff who apply and are selected, usually by the company. Secondments may last from a few months to a maximum of five years.

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether all crew regardless of nationality who are working on a UK-registered ship on routes between UK ports and (a) the Channel Islands and (b) France are subject to UK employment law.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 116W.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: The following table shows how many days, on average, staff in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills(1) were absent from work as result of ill health in the last 12 months. The data is split by grade and broken down by month.
	
		
			 Month Grade Total (2) 
			 2011   
			 October AA 2.5 
			  AO 0.8 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.5 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.2 
			  Grade 7 0.2 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.2 
			    
			 November AA 1.8 
			  AO 0.7 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.4 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.3 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.2 
			    
			 December AA 1.3 
			  AO 0.9 
			  EO 0.5 
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.2 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.1 
			 2012   
			 January AA 1.7 
			  AO 1.0 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.5 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.3 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.2 
			  SCS 0.1 
			    
			 February AA 1.5 
			  AO 0.8 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.4 
			  Faststream 0.0 
			  SEO 0.5 
			  Grade 7 0.4 
			  Grade 6 0.2 
			  SCS 0.2 
			    
			 March AA 0.7 
			  AO 0.8 
			  EO 0.5 
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.0 
			  SEO 0.5 
			  Grade 7 0.4 
			  Grade 6 0.3 
			  SCS 0.1 
			    
			 April AA 0.3 
			  AO 1.2 
			  EO 0.6 
		
	
	
		
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.4 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.3 
			  SCS 0.2 
			    
			 May AA 0.1 
			  AO 0.9 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.0 
			  SEO 0.3 
			  Grade 7 0.4 
			  Grade 6 0.3 
			  SCS 0.2 
			    
			 June AA 1.0 
			  AO 0.5 
			  EO 0.6 
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.4 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.1 
			    
			 July AA 0.4 
			  AO 0.6 
			  EO 0.7 
			  HEO 0.4 
			  SEO 0.4 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.1 
			    
			 August AA 1.3 
			  AO 0.6 
			  EO 0.7 
			  HEO 0.4 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.4 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.1 
			  SCS 0.1 
			    
			 September AA 0.9 
			  AO 0.7 
			  EO 0.7 
			  HEO 0.3 
			  Faststream 0.1 
			  SEO 0.4 
			  Grade 7 0.3 
			  Grade 6 0.2 
			  SCS 0.1 
			 (1 )Figures include BIS core and UKTI. (2) Average calculated using average headcount in each grade.

Vocational Guidance: Young People

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of links made between local enterprise partnerships and career services in schools and colleges.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has made no formal assessment of the links made between local enterprise partnerships and career services in schools and colleges.
	Local enterprise partnerships recognise the importance of having the right skills supply to meet the demands of local growth now and in the future. They are working increasingly closely with business to articulate skills needs and with colleges and providers in their areas to influence local skills provision.
	However it is for the partnerships themselves, not Government, to determine how they best work with business and stakeholders in pursuit of their growth priorities.

Work Experience

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what incentives his Department offers employers to encourage them to provide internships or work experience for (a) undergraduates and (b) graduates.

David Willetts: Both employers and young people benefit from internships. For young people, quality internships are an excellent way to enhance their skills and knowledge in preparation for the graduate jobs market. For businesses they offer low risk access to undergraduate or graduate skills, knowledge and innovation.
	To encourage employers to offer graduate internships, we are funding the Graduate Talent Pool internships website:
	http://graduatetalentpool.bis.gov.uk/
	for a further three years. This is a free, one-stop service for employers who wish to offer graduate internships, and for recent graduates who wish to undertake one.

EDUCATION

Disabled Children

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that families with disabled children are able to hold local authorities to account for the delivery of the local offer.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities would be required to work with children, young people and families to develop their local offer, setting out what families with children with special educational needs, including disabled children, can expect from local services. Those providing services will be accountable for their delivery, and the local offer will set out how families can make complaints or appeals if they are dissatisfied with services or decisions about their support.

Surplus School Places

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what financial support is available to allow secondary schools to retain surplus places to enable them to be used when increased numbers of children of primary school age and lower reach the age of 11.

David Laws: There is no specific funding for secondary schools to retain surplus places. For 2013-14, schools will receive funding for pupils counted on roll in October 2012. Funding in this way enables a more responsive system where good schools can expand to meet demand.
	We recognise this principle may be an issue in rural areas with few accessible secondary schools, and will look at this as we review the new 2013-14 funding arrangements.

Academies

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of secondary schools (a) are and (b) are about to become academies in (i) Kettering constituency, (ii) Northamptonshire and (iii) England.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 26 October 2012
	In Kettering constituency five secondary academies are currently open, representing 83% of secondary schools. None are in the process of becoming academies.
	In Northamptonshire 24 secondary academies are currently open, representing 59% of secondary schools. Five secondary schools are in the process of becoming academies, representing 12% of all secondary schools.
	In England 1,512 secondary academies are currently open, representing 46% of secondary schools. 268 secondary schools are in the process of becoming academies, representing 8% of all secondary schools.

Academies: Tameside and Stockport

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with Tameside council on schools in Tameside becoming academies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions his Department has had with Stockport council on schools in Stockport becoming academies; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has regular discussions across the country, including in Tameside and Stockport, about academies. Schools that apply to convert to academy status are allocated a dedicated contact within the Department to support them through the process. Where a school is underperforming officials will discuss sponsored academy solutions with the local authority and school. There are five academies open in Stockport. In Tameside there are seven open academies, and two schools in the process of converting to academies.

Adoption

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to lower the age at which a child can be adopted.

Edward Timpson: There is no lower limit to the age at which a child can be adopted.
	The Government is seeking to speed up the adoption process so that children for whom adoption is the right option can be placed with permanent adoptive families more quickly and so at a younger age than would otherwise be the case. ‘An Action Plan for Adoption’, which we published in March, aims to reduce delays in adoption by legislating to prevent local authorities from spending too long seeking a perfect adoptive match, by accelerating the assessment process for prospective adopters, and by making it easier for children to be fostered by their likely eventual adopters in certain circumstances. We have also introduced a local authority adoption scorecard to focus attention on the issue of timeliness, linked to a tougher intervention regime.

Adoption: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many couples in Sunderland adopted a child in each of the last three years.

Edward Timpson: Information on the number of couples who adopted a child is not available. The Department collects information on the numbers of looked after children who have been adopted by single people, civil partners, married and unmarried (same sex and different sex) couples. Some couples will adopt two or more children; therefore the number of couples who adopt will be lower than the number of children adopted.
	The numbers of looked after children adopted by single people and couples in Sunderland are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Children looked after who were adopted during the years ending 31 March by legal status of adopters1, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2012. Coverage: Sunderland local authority 
			 Number 
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 All looked after children who were adopted during the year ending 31 March 30 25 50 
			     
			 Legal status and gender of adopters    
			 Single adopter (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Same sex couple not in civil partnership 0 0 0 
			 Different sex unmarried couple (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Civil partnership couple 0 0 (2)— 
			 Married couple 25 20 45 
			 (1) Numbers ha\e been rounded to the nearest five. (2) Figures not shown in order to protect confidentiality. Source: SSDA 903

Children in Care

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children were taken into care aged (a) 10, (b) 11, (c) 12, (d) 13, (e) 14 and (f) 15 in each of the last 10 years.

Edward Timpson: The number of children who were taken into care aged (a) 10, (b) 11, (c) 12, (d) 13, (e)14 and (f) 15 in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Children who were taken into care during the years ending 31 March by age (1, 2, 3, 4 ) Years ending 31 March 2003 to 2012—Coverage: England 
			 Number 
			 Age on being taken into care (years) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Age 10 370 290 320 310 290 300 310 390 340 350 
			 Age 11 360 310 300 310 270 240 310 340 330 350 
			 Age 12 350 280 280 300 260 270 270 330 320 340 
			 Age 13 320 290 320 320 250 240 280 330 310 360 
			 Age 14 250 260 290 300 270 270 260 290 290 300 
			 Age 15 170 210 210 190 190 210 240 290 290 260 
			 (1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Children who were taken into care are children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order. (3) Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. (4) Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted. Source: SSDA 903

Children: Abuse

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what resources his Department plans to commit to tackling child abuse resulting from witchcraft branding or from accusations that children are possessed by evil spirits; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps his Department plans to take to implement the National Action Plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that those responsible for safeguarding children are sufficiently aware of the risks of child abuse resulting from witchcraft branding or accusations that children are possessed by evil spirits;
	(4)  what recent steps her Department (and the Home Department) has taken to ensure the protection of children from abuse resulting from either witchcraft branding or accusations of possession by evil spirits; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Education.
	In February 2011, Ministers held a meeting with AFRUCA, the Victoria Climbié Foundation, the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, Trust for London, the Congolese Family Centre, the Metropolitan police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the London Safeguarding Children Board to discuss the child abuse relating to a belief in witchcraft and spirit possession; and to explore how the Government could work with local authorities, voluntary and community organisations and people in local areas to tackle it.
	The Government created the National Working Group to Tackle Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief, in order to develop practical solutions to raise awareness, develop the skills of practitioners and support local communities to tackle such abuse. The Group decided that this could most effectively be delivered by means of an action plan, setting out the problems and solutions/actions, which members could realistically take forward.
	The “Empowering Practitioners” strand of the plan aims to help those on the frontline in safeguarding and wider services to be better equipped to understand and respond well to situations where abuse linked to faith or belief is anticipated or occurs. We hope with understanding of this type of abuse that practitioners should have confidence in carrying out their responsibilities in the context of different belief systems. This should help to improve assessments and interventions. Local Safeguarding Children Boards provide strategic leadership for safeguarding children in any area. We have identified that they and their partners from local authority children's services and from the police have played a key role in some areas of the country. In particular, the Metropolitan police have issued specific advice to their officers on this type of abuse.
	The Working Group meets on a regular basis to report and review the progress of the members have made in implementing the action plan. It last met on 24 October 2012.

Children: Disability

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to improve services for disabled children and young people who do not have special educational needs.

Edward Timpson: The Government is committed to improving the way in which children and young people who have special educational needs (SEN) and disabled children are identified, assessed, and supported. Alongside proposing changes to the law, we are taking other action to improve local practice. This includes helping develop the skills of those working with disabled children, and bringing into force the 'reasonable adjustments' duty for schools to provide auxiliary aids and services to disabled children and young people that was introduced through the Equality Act 2010. This is to ensure that those disabled children who do not have SEN receive the auxiliary aids and services they need, such as specialised computer programmes, hoists and sign language interpreters. The new Ofsted inspection framework (2012) also places an emphasis on inspecting the achievement of disabled pupils as well as those with SEN.
	We propose that local authorities would be required to set out a local offer of education, health and social care services available to local children and young people with additional needs. This should enable families to know what they can expect through mainstream services, how they can seek access to more specialist support, how decisions are made about providing that support, and how to make a complaint. We expect that local offers would include information about social care services such as short breaks for disabled children and young people, and health services such as therapies.
	Our proposed legislative reforms will strengthen duties on health and social care agencies. Health bodies would have a duty to commission jointly with local authorities the provision and support that is needed for children and young people with SEN (including, as in our other proposals, those whose disability prevents or hinders them from making use of mainstream educational facilities).
	In addition, our draft legislation proposes to extend protection by giving young people over compulsory school age the right to make disability discrimination claims to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) and to pilot giving this right to children of compulsory school age. This will help to ensure that disabled children and young people will not be discriminated against by missing out on the services that should be provided to them.
	These improvements sit alongside the continuing requirements on health agencies to provide health care, and the continuing duty on local authorities to assess whether social care services are needed by disabled children and their families, and where necessary to arrange these. Joint working between local authority and health services would be considerably strengthened through the combined effect of these new and existing statutory duties in ways that should benefit the families of all children with health or social care needs, whether or not they also have special educational needs.

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Elizabeth Truss: The cleaning of the Department's buildings is undertaken by its facilities management service provider, Interserve Facilities Management Ltd. As part of Interserve's contract mobilisation programme they are currently working to establish if any of the products used have been tested on animals, with the clear ambition of replacing products with suitable alternatives should any be identified. Interserve have also committed to ensure that products used conform to Government Buying Standards.

English Baccalaureate

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education in how many schools fewer than (a) five per cent, (b) 10 per cent and (c) 25 per cent of pupils passed the English baccalaureate in 2012; and if he will place a list of the schools in the Library.

Elizabeth Truss: Information for 2012 is not yet available—it will be published in late January 2013.
	This information is available for 2011 in the School and College Performance Tables from our website here:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html
	That information shows that, across all schools, in:
	(a) 1,727 schools fewer than 5% of pupils achieved the English Baccalaureate;
	(b) 2,335 schools fewer than 10% of pupils achieved the English Baccalaureate;
	(c) 3,374 schools fewer than 25% of pupils achieved the English Baccalaureate;
	(d) 128 schools there were no entries (NE) in Key Stage 4 qualifications (of which the majority are special schools);
	(e) 353 schools results for the English Baccalaureate are suppressed (SUPP) as they are based on five or fewer pupils.
	Note:
	Schools in category (a) are also included in categories (b) and (c); and schools in category (b) are also included in category (c). Also, schools in categories (d) and (e) are not included in any other category.
	The lists have been placed in the House Libraries.

GCE A-level

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils gained three A grades or more at A level (a) including and (b) excluding general studies in the last year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: The number of pupils aged 16 to 18 in England who gained three A* or A grades in GCE/Applied GCE A level and Double Awards based on 2011/12 (provisional) data was 33,154. If GCE A levels in general studies are excluded this number falls to 32,114.
	Notes
	1. Pupil age is counted in years at the start of the 2011/12 academic year, i.e. age at 31 August 2011.
	2. An Applied GCE Double Award at grade A*A* counts as two grade A*s, AA counts as two grade As, an award at grade AB counts as one grade A.
	3. Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content ‘discounting’ rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications.

GCE A-level

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils studied for an A level in (a) accounting, (b) art and design, (c) business studies, (d) communication studies, (e) dance, (f) design and technology, (g) drama/theatre studies, (h) film studies, (i) health and social care, (j) home economics, (k) information and communication technology, (l) leisure studies, (m) media studies, (n) music technology, (o) performance studies, (p) performing arts, (q) photography, (r) physical education, (s) sports studies and (t) travel and tourism in each type of school in the latest period for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: The number of pupils aged 16 to 18 who attempted GCE A-level examinations in the requested subjects by type of institution is given in the following tables:
	
		
			 GCE A- level examination results of students aged 16 to 18 (1)  by selected subjects and type of institution, year :  2011/12 (provisional), coverage: England 
			 Number 
			  Accounting Art and design Business studies Communication studies Dance Design and technology Drama/Theatre s tudies 
			 All schools and FE sector colleges 3,033 35,922 26,228 1,881 1,920 13,270 13,237 
		
	
	
		
			 All state-funded schools(3) 639 19,062 13,734 514 1,012 10,201 8,174 
			 All mainstream schools(4) 952 23,895 17,550 546 1,078 11,943 10,091 
			 Of which:        
			 LA maintained schools(5) 375 11,385 7,971 263 630 5,973 4,697 
			 Free schools(6) (1) (0)— 11 24 (1) (0)— (1) (0)— 3 8 
			 Sponsored academies 37 1,101 457 37 40 459 282 
			 Converter academies 227 6,564 5,281 214 342 3,766 3,187 
			 Independent schools(7) 313 4,834 3,817 32 66 1,742 1,917 
			 All special schools(8) (1) (0)— 21 5 (1) (0)— (1) (0)— 5 3 
			 All independent schools(9) 313 4,854 3,821 32 66 1,747 1,920 
			 All FE sector colleges 2,081 12,006 8,673 1,335 842 1,322 3,143 
			 Sixth-form colleges 1,348 8,032 5,583 702 596 1,198 2,211 
			 Other FE sector colleges 733 3,974 3,090 633 246 124 932 
		
	
	
		
			 Number 
			  Film studies Home economics ICT (2) Media studies Music technology Performance studies Physical education 
			 All schools and FE sector colleges 6,206 300 7,737 22,005 2,722 1,044 14,485 
			 All state-funded schools(3) 2,750 177 4,448 13,343 1,429 434 8,785 
			 All mainstream schools(4) 2,892 272 4,969 13,809 1,654 452 10,674 
			 Of which:        
			 LA maintained schools(5) 1,774 75 2,744 8,153 778 303 5,103 
			 Free schools(6) (1) (0)— (1) (0)— 10 6 (1) (0)— 2 11 
			 Sponsored academies 134 6 201 828 57 11 265 
			 Converter academies 842 96 1,493 4,355 594 118 3,406 
			 Independent Schools(7) 142 95 521 467 225 18 1,889 
			 All special schools(8) 1 (1) (0)— 1 8 3 3 5 
			 All independent schools(9) 143 95 522 474 228 21 1,894 
			 All FE sector colleges 3,313 28 2,767 8,188 1,065 589 3,806 
			 Sixth-form colleges 2,044 25 1,711 5,218 804 506 3,017 
			 Other FE sector colleges 1,269 3 1,056 2,970 261 83 789 
			 (1) Age in years at the start of the 2011/12 academic year, i.e. 31 August 2011. (2) Information, communication and technology. (3) Includes the results for all maintained mainstream schools, academies, free schools, maintained special schools and pupil referral units (excludes independent schools and FE sector colleges). (4) Includes the results for sponsor/converter academies; LA maintained schools; city technology colleges; independent schools; mainstream free schools (not including special schools or pupil referral units). (5 )Includes the results for community schools; voluntary aided schools; voluntary controlled schools; foundation schools and city technology colleges. (6) Includes the results for free schools (mainstream and studio schools). (7 )Includes the results for independent schools (excluding independent special schools). (8 )Includes the results for community special schools; non-maintained special schools; independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs; academy converter special schools. (9 )Includes the results for independent schools, including independent special schools. (10) Zero pupils. Note: Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content 'discounting' rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications. 
		
	
	Please see ‘Technical Notes’ in the SFR: GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and Equivalent Examination Results in England, 2011-12 (Provisional).
	This is available at the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001093/index.shtml
	There are no students recorded attempting GCE A levels in the subject groupings:
	health and social care;
	leisure studies;
	performing arts; and
	travel and tourism.
	Students studying photography courses are included in art and design and those on sports studies are included in physical education.

General Studies: GCE A-level

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils completed general studies A level in (a) comprehensive, (b) selective and (c) independent schools in the last year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: The number of pupils aged 16 to 18 who attempted GCE A level General Studies by admissions policy/type of institution is given as follows:
	
		
			 GCE A level examinations in General Studies attempted by students aged 16 to 18 (1)  by admissions policy/type of institution, year: 2011/12 (provisional), coverage: England 
			 Admissions policy/type of school Number of 16 to 18 (1) -year-old students attempting GCE A level General Studies 
			 Comprehensive Schools 14,472 
			 Selective Schools 6,994 
			 Independent Schools (not including special schools) 1,580 
			 (1) Age in years at the start of the 2011/12 academic year, i.e. 31 August 2011 Note: Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content 'discounting' rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications. 
		
	
	Please see ‘Technical Notes’ in the SFR: GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and Equivalent Examination Results in England, 2011/12 (Provisional).
	This is available at the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001093/index.shtml

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which special advisers and policy advisers in his Department are (a) in post and (b) appointed but yet to be in post; what the salary bands are of each such adviser; what the cost to his Department is of such advisers from date of appointment to date; what the policy responsibilities are of each such adviser; and to whom each such adviser reports directly.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 October 2012
	The Department currently has three special advisers who report directly to the Secretary of State. Two of the special advisers are on Pay Band 2 (£52,215 to £69,266) and the third is on Pay Band 1 (£40,352 to £54,121). Details of the special advisers, including their names and salary information, are contained in published Cabinet Office information at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/special-adviser-data-releases
	The cost to the Department of the three special advisers from appointment to date is around £329,000, which includes employer national insurance and superannuation costs.
	The special advisers advise and support the Secretary of State across all his policy responsibilities.
	The Department currently has four policy advisers in post who report to the Director of Strategy, and they are Sam Freedman, Alice Miles, Tim Leunig, and David Wood. They are paid at SCS Pay Band 1 (£58,200 to £117,750). The total cost to the Department of the four policy advisers from appointment to date is around £190,000, including employer national insurance and superannuation costs.
	The policy advisers contribute to policy development and advise Ministers and the Secretary of State across the range of departmental policies.
	There are no special or policy advisers who have yet to take up post.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education subscribes to the full range of national newspapers, as well as a range of journals and magazines which cover education and children’s issues.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department collects on the participation of school children.

Edward Timpson: In view of the other questions tabled at the same time by the right hon. and learned Member, I have assumed that this question relates to the numbers of children participating in physical education and sport in schools.
	The Department no longer collects data on the participation of school children in physical education and sport. Data relating to sports participation is measured by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Taking Part survey and Sport England's Active People survey.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department has collected on the number of volunteer sports leaders and coaches working in schools to encourage participation in sport.

Edward Timpson: Over the academic year 2011-12, just over 4,800 volunteer coaches and leaders (aged 16 years and over) have been recruited and deployed to support the delivery of the School Games programme across the country. Over the calendar year of 2012/13 some 49,000 young volunteers will have been deployed through level one, two and three of the School Games, though this figure will include some young people more than once if they volunteered at more than one level. In addition there are 18,000 young pupils attending Sports Leaders UK Leadership Academies, as well as 50,000 young people trained in sports leadership skills at their local schools.
	Data on volunteers outside of these programmes are not collected centrally.

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has removed materials or resources relating to (a) dyscalculia and (b) other special educational needs from its website since May 2010; and for what reason each such item was removed.

Edward Timpson: A list of SEN related publications which are no longer on the DFE website is provided in the following table.
	The National Numeracy Strategy publication “Guidance to support dyslexia and dyscalculia has been archived and made available for reference, but use should not be considered current policy or guidance. The publication is available from:
	www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DfES%200512%202001
	In the context of these, colleagues at the Teaching Agency have been talking to those groups with a view to allowing them to take on materials that they consider continue to be useful, so that they themselves can update them and support access for teachers and other people in the work force.
	Following the Lamb inquiry into special educational needs and parental confidence the Department has published advanced-level training materials for teachers working with children with the most common forms of SEN: specific learning difficulties (including dyscalculia); autism; behavioural, emotional and social difficulties; as well as speech; language and communication needs. These can be found at:
	www.education.gov.uk/lamb
	Materials and information about the Early Support programme have been removed because they are currently being revised, expanded and updated, all are available from:
	www.ncb.org.uk/earlysupport
	The National Archives regularly takes snapshots of Government websites. Archived versions of the Department for Education website from May 2010 are available from:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http://www.education.gov.uk/
	
		
			 Product reference Product title 
			 15009 What the research says about ICT supporting special educational needs (SEN) and inclusion 
			 DFEE 0021 2001 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 1 
			 TDA-04278-200 Special educational needs in mainstream schools: A guide for the beginner teacher 
			 LEA 0159 2004 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 9 
		
	
	
		
			 DFES 0716 2004 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Newsletter 1 
			 DFES 0715 2004 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 10 
			 LEA 0115 2003 Special Educational Needs SEN Regional Partnerships: Case Study 6 
			 LEA 0418 2003 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 8 
			 LEA 0116 2003 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 7 
			 DFES 0333 2002 Special Educational Needs—Update 9 
			 DFES 0098 2002 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 5 
			 DFES 0097 2002 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 4 
			 DFES 0091 2002 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 3 
			 DFEE 0022 2001 Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships—Case Study 2 
			 DFES-0273-2004 Accessing National Curriculum science for pupils with special educational needs 
			 CNUTM/R14 A Guide to Special Educational Needs 
			 DCSF-00372-2008 Bullying involving Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities: Safe to Learn—Embedding anti-bullying work in schools 
			 DCSF-00802-2007 The use of Performance Scales for Children with Special Educational Needs 
			 DCSF-00965-2008 New regulations for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) 
			 DCSF-00351-2009 Review of the extent and the cost of additional and special educational needs 
			 AUDC-00385-2008 Special educational needs (SEN) Value for Money tool 
			 SENUPDATE 14 Special Educational Needs Update 14—March 2004 
			 PKHFM16 Help available for children with special educational needs 
			 LEA 0213 2003 Special Educational Needs Update 12—June 2003 
			 LEA 0427 2002 Special Educational Needs Update 10—November 2002 
			 LEA 0427 2003 Special Educational Needs Update 11—March 2003 
			 DFES-00070-2007 Special educational needs/learning difficulties and/or disabilities newsletter: issue 2 Spring 2007 
			 DFES 0581 2004 Inclusion: Special educational needs and disabilities module 
			 DFES 0738 2001 Special Educational Needs Update 8—November 2001 
			 DFES 0321 2004 Learning and Teaching for children with special educational needs in the primary years 
			 DFEE 0085 2001 Special Educational Needs Update 6—March 2001 
			 DFEE 0502 2001 Special Educational Needs Update 7—June 2001 
			 DCSF-00400-2009 Consultation on Draft Regulations for the Training of Newly Appointed Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in England 
			 DFES 0035 2003 Making a Difference: Guide for Special Educational Needs (SEN). Governors 
			 DFEE 0101/2000 Supporting Pupils with Special Educational Needs in the Literacy Hour—Video 
			 DCSF-00079-2010 Working effectively with parents: A training guide for SEN caseworkers 
			 DFES/0104/2005 Maximising progress: Ensuring the attainment of pupils with SEN 
			 DFES-0139-2006 Effective leadership: Ensuring the progress of pupils with SEN and/or disabilities 2006 
			 OFST-01034-2008 Essential maintenance to the self-evaluation form (SEF) website 
			 DCSF-00716-2009 Mandatory training for newly appointed SENCOs 
			 IRU-00229-2007 IRU statement on SEN and disability—meeting need, minimising bureaucracy 
			 DCSF-00198-2009 Letter to schools about improving outcomes for children with SEN and disability 
			 DCSF-00154-2009 School letter on Armed Services' children with SEN 
		
	
	
		
			 BLNK-00222-2007 Education Show 2007—National Strategies seminar on Personalisation, intervention and SEN: Schools, local authorities and the National Strategies working together 
			 AUDC-00864-2008 The SEN/AEN Value for Money Self-Evaluation Resource Pack 
			 DCSF-00300-2008 Consultation on draft SENCO Regulations 
			 DFES 0738 2003 Behaviour And Attendance Key Messages For SENCOs 
			 DFES 0605 2004 Inclusion, SEN and disabilities: Introductory training for school support staff 
			 DFES 0262 2002 SEN Disagreement Resolution in Action 
			 DFES 0137 2003 SEN: Training materials for the foundation subjects video 
			 DFES 0138 2003 SEN: Training materials for the foundation subjects 
			 DFES 0256 2002 National Numeracy Strategy: SENCO Training Pack

Young People: Carers

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that teachers in areas with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS have adequate awareness of and training in addressing the difficulties experienced by young people acting as carers for a person suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Edward Timpson: All teachers are required to satisfy the Teachers' Standards, which include “having regard for the need to safeguard pupils' well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions”. The Government believes that head teachers are best placed to make the right decisions on training and continuing professional development for all school staff. Individual schools know best how to address issues affecting their pupils, and we would expect them to provide appropriate pastoral support for children who are caring for a family member affected by HIV/AIDS.
	I welcome the valuable work done by The Children's Society in partnership with The Elton John Aids Foundation to develop an online resource for practitioners working with young carers looking after family members affected by HIV/AIDS. I am sure this will prove invaluable to teachers.

Young People: Carers

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on steps to ensure that young people acting as carers for a person suffering from HIV/AIDS have a supportive environment within the education system.

Edward Timpson: Schools have a key role in identifying and supporting all young carers. We look to schools to create a supportive environment that responds to each child's personal circumstances. It is important that head teachers and governors are allowed the necessary local freedom to exercise their welfare responsibilities in the most appropriate way. Ofsted take particular interest in the experiences of more vulnerable children, including young carers, during inspections.
	Sex education, which includes information about HIV/AIDS, must be taught to pupils in maintained secondary schools and maintained special schools where secondary education is provided. This helps to challenge preconceptions amongst pupils and remove any stigma attached to the disease.

Young People: Carers

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to monitor the health and well-being of young people acting as carers for a person suffering from HIV/AIDS; what his policy is on measures to ensure that such young people are able to confide in teachers and other education staff; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Our revised carers strategy recognises that too many young carers remain ‘hidden’ because of the stigma, discrimination and bullying that are still too often associated with conditions like mental ill health and HIV/AIDS. That is why the Department is funding The Children's Society and Carers Trust to work with local authorities and voluntary and community organisations to identify and share existing good practice, including the comprehensive Schools Resource pack compiled by The Children's Society and Carers Trust.
	We have also worked in conjunction with the National Young Carers Coalition to produce an e-learning module for school staff. This aims to increase awareness in schools of young carers' issues and is available on The Children's Society and Carers Trust websites. The Department of Health are also working on how school nurses can support young carers, including those with family members affected by HIV/AIDS, and education colleagues.

TREASURY

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Sajid Javid: The Department's aim is to pay all valid goods and services invoices within five working days and this applies to all suppliers of goods and services irrespective .of size. Details of the Treasury Group's performance against the five working day aim. since May 2010 can be found on the Department's website at:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/group_payment_performance.htm.
	The average time taken to pay all invoices for HM Treasury in the last three financial years was five days in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and three days in 2011-12.

Child Benefit

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has given to HM Revenue and Customs on how to approach the child benefit cases of young people with terminal illnesses who are approaching the age of 16.

David Gauke: There is no specific child benefit guidance for this scenario.

Individual Savings Accounts

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to permit the conversion of stocks and shares ISAs to cash ISAs.

Sajid Javid: In the current tax year, each individual can save up to £11,280 in individual savings accounts (ISAs), of which £5,640 can be saved in a cash ISA.
	Allowing funds from stocks and shares ISAs to be transferred into cash ISAs would compromise the lower cash ISA subscription limit.
	As announced at Budget 2012, the Government have worked with industry to improve competitiveness and transparency in the ISA market. As with all tax policy, ISAs are kept under review.

Money Advice Service

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the key performance indicators are for the Money Advice Service;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Money Advice Service against its key performance indicators in each quarter for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: The Money Advice Service (MAS) is an independent body and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) approves its annual plan and budget.
	In its annual report, MAS reports on the discharge of its consumer financial education function, including setting out the extent to which the body has met its objectives and priorities for the period covered by the report. The annual report for 2011-12 is available on the MAS's website at:
	www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/static/publications
	As stated in its annual report, MAS has been developing the key performance indicators used to measure its reach, impact and overall effectiveness. I have asked MAS to set out the details of these measurement tools in writing. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what flexibility he will permit for employers, under the new real-time information (RTI) arrangements for PAYE, between their payroll cut off date and the transmission of their RTI return, in order to allow for late adjustments; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Under real time information employers will have to report PAYE information on or before the time they pay their employees. Integrating PAYE reporting with operating the payroll in this way will reduce admin burdens for employers. For the vast majority of payments to employees there will be no issues with this ‘on or before’ reporting.
	HMRC already have guidance in place setting out how employers can report adjustments to pay. In addition to this HMRC have been working with employers and their representatives and recognise that submitting data ‘on or before’ in some circumstances will be difficult or impossible.
	HMRC will shortly be announcing some specific relaxations to the ‘on or before’ reporting requirement to address these scenarios.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants from his Department are on secondment to companies in the UK; and what the names are of those companies.

Sajid Javid: The answer to the number of civil servants from the Treasury on secondment to companies in the UK is five or below. It is the Treasury's policy for reasons of confidentiality not to release full details relating to numbers of staff fewer than five where to do so might lead to the identification of individual cases.

Tax Avoidance: Temporary Employment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of travel and subsistence tax avoidance schemes used by temporary labour providers in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: Formal, detailed estimates of the Exchequer effects of individual avoidance risks are not routinely produced. On 18 October 2012 HMRC published Measuring Tax Gaps which sets out estimates of the tax gap, including that arising from avoidance, across all HMRC administered taxes:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/mtg-2012.pdf
	The cost of travel and subsistence schemes used by temporary labour providers was estimated to be in the region of £250 million per year in the consultation document “Tax Relief for Travel Expenses: Temporary Workers and Overarching Employment Contracts”, which was published in July 2008:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/F/2/travelexpenses_210708.pdf
	This estimate has not been updated since.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2012, Official Report, column 1098W, on tobacco smuggling, how many individual seizures were made by the UK Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and what the total volume was of the products seized;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Finland on Finland's policy on duty free limits;
	(3)  how many people were convicted in relation to seizures made by the UK Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years;
	(4)  how many retailers have been banned from selling tobacco for six months under section 8H of the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979, in each of the last 10 years.

Sajid Javid: To the extent that we are able to provide details, the following tables show the number of individual seizures of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco made in each of the last five years and the total volume of tobacco products seized. This does not include the number of individual overseas seizures, which are not recorded centrally, or the number of individual postal seizures from 2010-11 when a new information system was introduced.
	
		
			 Cigarettes 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Total number of seizures 57,649 47,954 41,783 30,798 30,595 
			 HMRC number of seizures 57,649 47,954 2,527 2,011 1,845 
			 Border Force number of seizures n/a n/a 39,256 28,787 28,750 
			 Total volume seized 1.8 billion 1.8 billion 1.7 billion 1.7 billion 1.7 billion 
			 of which:      
			 HMRC overseas 726 million 855 million 1,043 million 992 million 1,135 million 
			 HMRC border 984 million 801 million n/a n/a n/a 
			 HMRC inland 98 million 180 million 110 million 77 million 142 million 
			 BF border n/a n/a 541 million 650 million 455 million 
		
	
	
		
			 Hand-rolling tobacco 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Total number of seizures 17,214 17,703 19,995 12,410 13,100 
			 HMRC number of seizures 17,214 17,703 1,865 1,596 1,567 
			 Border Force number of seizures n/a n/a 18,130 10,814 11,533 
			 Total volume seized 194 tonnes 258 tonnes 406 tonnes 380 tonnes 572 tonnes 
			 of which:      
			 HMRC overseas n/a n/a 15 tonnes 28 tonnes 8 tonnes 
			 HMRC border 164 tonnes 237 tonnes n/a n/a n/a 
			 HMRC inland 30 tonnes 21 tonnes 31 tonnes 47 tonnes 56 tonnes 
			 Border Force border n/a n/a 361 tonnes 315 tonnes 508 tonnes 
		
	
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not had any discussions with his counterparts in Finland on Finland's policy on duty free limits.
	The number of people convicted in relation to seizures made by the Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years is not available. However, the following table shows the number of convictions in relation to tobacco offences investigated by HM Revenue and Customs, which includes referrals from the Border Force.
	
		
			  Number of convictions 
			 2011-12 156 
			 2010-11 133 
			 2009-10 233 
			 2008-09 226 
			 2007-08 n/a 
		
	
	Due to a change in reporting systems, information prior to 2008-09 is not available.
	Information on the number of retailers that have been banned from selling tobacco products under section 8H of the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 is not collated by HMRC or recorded in a way that would enable the information requested to be extracted.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Measuring Tax Gaps 2012 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the advice contained in the Taylor Report on Tobacco Smuggling that the principal cause of smuggling is the high level of duty;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the advice contained in the Taylor Report on Tobacco Smuggling that the principal cause of smuggling is the high level of duty.

Sajid Javid: The Government are fully committed to tackling tobacco smuggling to protect Government revenues, and the health of the population. A number of issues, including the levels and trends in the illicit market for tobacco, are considered in making decisions on duty rates.
	When the Taylor Report was produced, the tax gaps for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco (HRT) were 21%, and 61% respectively.
	The latest estimates, recently published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2012”, show that the tax gap for cigarettes has more than halved to 9% in 2010-11. Over the same period the tax gap for HRT has decreased to 38%.
	HMRC and the UK Border Agency introduced a renewed strategy in April 2011, to build on the success already achieved in tackling tobacco fraud.

VAT: Construction

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider reducing the rate of VAT levied on the construction industry by 5 per cent.

David Gauke: The Government keeps all tax policies under review, and any changes are announced by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.

VAT: Electronic Publishing

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of VAT levied on the sale of e-books purchased in the UK.

David Gauke: Research into the e-book sector suggests the e-book market in the UK for 2011 is around £140 million. However, a large proportion of this business is supplied from abroad. Therefore, no reliable estimate has been possible for the value of VAT levied on the sale of e-books purchased in the UK.